ORO;\
t
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES
A. MARSHALL ELLIOTT
MANAGING EDITOR
JAMES W. BEIGHT, HERMANN COLLITZ
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
\»;
r
VOLUME XXIV
1909
BALTIMOKE: THE EDITOES
fe
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
ORIGINAL ARTICLES.
Cox, Edward Godfrey, King Lear in Celtic
Tradition
Thayer, Harvey W., Thiimmel's Reise and Lau-
rence Sterne
Mustard, Wilfred P., Notes on the Egloges of
Alexander Barclay
Kurtz, Benjamin P., Style and Habit : A Note.
Ibershoff, C. H., The Singular Fate of a Pas-
sage in Freytag's Die Journalisten
Kittredge, G. L., Chaucer's Envoy to Bui-ton....
Cooper, Lane, The "Forest Hermit" in Cole-
ridge and Wordsworth
Warren, F. M. , Tristan on the Continent before
1066
Allen, Edward A., The First Folio of Shakes-
speare, and the New English Dictionary
Voss, Ernst, Franz Von Sickingen's Appeal to
the German Nation
Sypherd, W. Owen, Le Songe Vert and Chau-
cer's Dream-Poems
- Wood, Francis A., Etymological Notes
Bohn, Wm. E., The Decline of the English
Heroic Drama
Cook, Albert S., A Simile of Browning's;
' Never less Alone than when Alone ' ;
Milton, Gomus, 598
Pietsch, K., Don Quixote I, Prologo : Non Bene
o Toto Libertas Venditur Auro
ilkins, E. H., Criseida
Morton, Edward Payson, Poems in the Stanza
of In Memoriam
Laubscher, Gustav G., Notes on the Spanish
Ysopo of 1496
Brooke, C. F. Tucker, On the Date of the First
Edition of Marlowe's Edward II.
Blondheim, D. S., A Parallel to Aucassin et
Nicolelle, vi, 26
Hanford, Jas. Holly, A Note on the "Scheirer
Bhythmus"
Schwartz, Herbert F., One of the Sources of the
Queen of Corinth
' Bright, James W., On the Text of the Prose
Portion of the ' Paris Psalter'
Ibershoff, C. H., Oil a Passage of Friedrich
Eiickert
Kellerman, Ivy, A Modern Version of Cupid
and Psyche
ii
Cooper, W. A., Goethe'sQuotation from Hutten
in Dichtung und Wahrheit. I
Curme, George, The Indicative after a Present,
1_6 tne Subjunctive after a Past
Baskervill, C. E., The Source of the Main Plot
g_g of Shirley's Love Tricks
Cooper, W. A., Goethe's Quotation from Hutten
8-10 in Dichtung und Wahrheit. II
10-13 Livingston, A. A., Some Italian Satiric Predi-
cates of the Eighteenth Century
13-14 Busse, A., Two Notes on Grillparzer
14-15 MacCracken, Henry Noble, New Stanzas by
Dunbar
33-36 Baker, George M., Some Eeferences to German
Literature in English Magazines of the
37-38 Early Eighteenth Centuiy
Sturtevant, Albert Morey, A New Trace of
38-43 Shakespeare's Influence upon Schiller's
Wallenstcin
43-46 Gerould, Gordon Hall, An Early Analogue of
Chaucer's Prioresses Tale
46-47 Johnston, Oliver M., Use of Suo for Loro in
47_49 Old Italian
Enutz-Rees, C., Some Debts of Samuel Daniel
49-54 to Du Bellay
Waite, Alice Vinton, Ben Jonson's Grammar....
Phelps, William Lyou, Notes on Browning
54-55 Pietsch, Karl, Notes on Baist, Grammatik der
Spanischen Sprache,2 1906
Cook, Albert S., Marlowe, Doctor Faustus 13.
109.— Cynewulf, Christ 930-940
Buchanan, Milton A., Chorley's Catalogue of
67-70 Comedias and Autos of Frey Lope Felix de
Vega Carpio
70-71 Lancaster, H. Carrington, A Poem Addressed
to Alexandre Hardy
71-73 Levi, Moritz, Silence and Solitude in the Poems
of Leopard!
73-74 Livingston, A. A., Venetian Busindlo = Italian
Emissario
74_76 Tombo, Rudolf, Jr., Contemporary German Fic-
tion and Narrative Poetry
76-77 Adams, Joseph Quincy, Jr., An Unnoted Par-
ody of Hamlet
77_78 Cushman, E. M., Concerning Fulke Greville's
(Lord Brooke's) Tragedies, Alaham and
78-79 Mustapha
Gibbs, E. Lincoln, The Meaning of Feeldes in
79-80 Chaucer's Knight's Tale, vv. 975-77
80-83
97-100
100-101
101-105
105-108
108-109
110-111
111-114
129-132
132-133
133-134
134-137
137-140
161-163
163-166
166-167
167-171
171-172
172-176
176-178
178-179
179
180-181
197-198
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
m
Buchanan, Milton A., Chorley's Catalogue of
Coraedias and Autos of Frey Lope Felix de
VegaCarpio. II 198-204
Benhara, Allen R., John Churton Collins. A
Review 204-208
Ibershoff, C. H., Concerning the Tell Soliloquy 208-210
Winter, J. G., Browning's Epilogue to the
Two Poets of Oroisie 210-214
Bodtker, A. Trampe, French Words in English
after 1066 214-217
Sidey, Thos. K., Echoes of the Classics in
Kipling 217-218
Hulrae, W. H., A Middle English Additiou
to the Wager Cycle 218-222
Hill, N. W., The Wood of Birnam 229-230
Handschin, Charles Hart, Bibliographic zur
Technik des Neueren Deutschen Romans. I 230-234
Moritz, Robert E., On a Quantitative Relation
Governing Certain Linguistic Phenomena.. 234-241
Patterson, Shirley Gale, Interchange of Suffixes,
-aster, -ignus, and -icus 241-243
Livingston, A. A., A Carducci- Leopard! Par-
allel 243-244
Tilley, M. P., Shakespeare and his Ridicule of
'Cambyses' 244-247
REVIEWS. <-•
Griffin, Nathaniel Edward, Dares and Dictys.
[George L. Hamilton.} 16-21
MacGillivray, John, and Williamson, E. J.,
Der Schimmelreiter von Theodor Storm.
[Starr WiUard Cutting.} 21-24
Huszar, Guillaume, Moliere et 1'Espagne.
[/. A. Ray.} 24-26
Meisnest, Frederick William, Introduction to
Scientific German by Reinhart Blochmann.
[Frederick W. C. Lieder.} 26-28
Bruner, James D., Studies in Victor Hugo's
Dramatic Characters. [E.H.Lewis] 28-29
Spanhoofd, A. W., Arnold's Fritz auf Ferien.
[G. H. Danton.} 29-30
Northup, G. T., El Libro de los Gates. [C.
Carroll Harden.} 56-59
Morrison, Frederic W., and Churchman, Philip
H., La Alegria del Capitan Ribot by Ar-
mando Palacio Valdds. [P. O. Skinner.} 59-60
Pidal, R. Menendez, Cantar de Mio Cid. [J.
D. M. Ford.} 83-87
Mehring, Die Lessing- -i
Legende, [G. H. Danton.} 87-88
Ernst, Otto, Lessing. )
Flom, George T., A History of Scandinavian
Studies in American Universities. [W.
N. C. Carlton.} 88-90
Arnold, Robert F., Das Moderne Drama.
[Max Salt.} 90-91
Traver, Hope, The Four Daughters of God.
[Robert L. Ramsay.} 91-94
Holthausen, F. , Beowulf nebst dem Finnsburg-
Bruchstuck. [Fr. Klaeber.} 94-95
Melton, Wightman Fletcher, The Rhetoric of
John Donne's Verse. [George Armstrong
Wauchope.} 114-116
Souriau, Maurice, Moralistes et Poe'tes. [TFi/-
liamA. MeLaughlin.} 116-120
Herriot, Edouard, Madame Re'camier et ses
Amis. [Albert Schinz.} 120-121
Olson, Julius E., Henrik Ibsen : Brand. [Lee
M. Hollander.} 140-142
Page, Curtis Hidden, Moliere. [Jeannetle Marks.} 142-144
Priest, George M., Ebernand von Erfurt. [H.
Z. Kip.} 145-146
Baldwin, C. S., A College Manual of Rhetoric.
[/. M. McBryde, Jr.} 146-149
-Brandl, Alois, Anglo-Saxon Literature. [A.
W. Lawrence.} 149-153
Campbell, Killis, The Seven Sages of Rome.
[Edwird Godfrey Cox.} 153-156
Marian Edwardes, A Summary of the Litera-
tures of Modern Europe. [Geo. C. Keidel.} 156
Hatfield, James Taft, Wilhelm Muller's Ge-
diehte. [John A. Wah.} 157
Streitberg, Wilhelm, Die Gotische Bibel. [Her-
mann Collilz.} 181-183
Pellissier, Georges, Le XVII8 Siecle par les
Textes — Voltaire Philosophe. [Albert
Schinz.} 183-184
Brooke, C. F. Tucker, The Shakespeare Apoc-
rypha. [John Louis Haney.} 184-186
Conant, Martha Pike, The Oriental Tale in
England in the Eighteenth Century. [John
M. C/app.} 186-187
A Concordance to the English Poems of Thomas
Gray. [ Clark S. Northup. } 187-188
Thieme, Hugo P., and Effinger, John R., A
French Grammar. [A. E. Curdy.} 188-190
Bronk, Isabelle, The Poesies Diverses of An-
toine Furetitre. [F. M. Warren.} 190-191
Villey, Pierre, Les Sources italiennes de la
"Deffense et Illustration de la langue
franjoise " de Joachim Du Bellay. [Grace
Norton.} 191-192
Salomon, Michel, Charles Nodier et le groupe
romantique. [Lewis Piaget Shanks. } 192-193
Wright, Joseph, Historical German Grammar.
[H. C. G. von Jagemann.} 193-195
Nichols, A. B., Modern German Prose. [H.
S. White.} 195-196
De Pereda, Jose1 M., Pedro Sanchez. [John L.
Gerig.} 222-224
IV
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Canton, George Henry, ]
The Nature Sense
in the Writings of
Ludwig Tieck. [ [Camilla wmKleme,] 247-249
Steinert, Walter, Das
Farbenerapfinden
Ludwig Tiecks.
Keiter, Heinricli, and Keller, Tony, Der Ro-
man : Geschichte, Theorie, und Technik
des Rumans und der erziihlenden Dicht-
kunst. [AT. M. Skinner.] 249-251
Van Sever, Ad., Les poStes du terroir du xve
sidcle au xxe siScle. [A. Schinz. ] 252
Carlson, J. S., Swedish Grammar and Header.
[George T. Flam."} 252-253
CORRESPONDENCE.
Eoyster, James Finch, A Note on Spenser's
Archaism and Cicero 30-31
Noyes, George R., The Second Edition of Dry-
den's Virgil 31
MacCracken, Henry Noble, King James' Claim
to Rhyme Royal 31-32
Wells, John Edwin, James Thompson and Milton 60-61
Haney, John Louis, An Evening with Coleridge 61-62
Northup, G. T., An Allusion in Lope de Vega. 62
Tuttle, E. H. , English rasher : Spanish raja 63
Patterson, Shirley Gale, Voltaire and Dumas... 62-63
Hammond, Eleanor Prescott, Dance Macabre... 63
Benham, Allen R., A Note on Paradise Lost 64
Mustard, Wilfred P., A Correction 64
Hinckley, Henry Barrett, Chaucer and the
Cleomadcs 95
Padelford, Frederick Morgan, Hamlet II, 2,
181-187 95-96
Tuttle, E. H., A Note on Spanish Orthography 96
Morgan, Louise B., Notice of Omissions 96
Tilley, M. P., A Note on Twelfth Night 121-122
MacCracken, Henry Noble, An Unknown Mid-
dle English Translation of V Epitre d' Othea 122-123
Allen, Edward A., "Never less Alone than
when Alone" 123
Randall, Julia Davenport, A Note on Heine's
Harzreuse 123
Dunbar, Alice M., Wordsworth's Use of Mil-
ton's Description of the Building of Pande-
monium
Hinckley, Henry Barrett, Theories of Vision in
English Poetry
Churchman, Philip H. , Byron and Shakespeare
Bushee, Alice H., The Spanish Novel
Richards, Alfred E., Carlyle's Wilhelm Meister's
Apprenticeship
Vie'tor, Wilhelm, Kin and kinde in Hamlet
Lang, H. R., "Ysopete" in Spanish
Jones, H. S. V., Chaucer and the Cleomadii....
•May, Alfred A., A Source for Christ, 11. 348-377
Abel, Rose, Cumberland's Edition of Chaucer..
Mott, Lewis F., Hamlet
Traver, Hope, " The Four Daughters of God "
Moffatt, James Hugh, Honor to whom Honor
is due
MacCracken, Henry Noble, An Unprinted Ver-
sion of " A Christemasse Song"
House, R..T., Writers with New Ideas
Brewer, W. F., " Never less Alone than when
Alone" '.
Havens, Raymond D., Literature of Melancholy
Davidson, F. J.A., The Meaning of Vita Nuova
Howard, W. G., An Obscure Allusion in Herder
Child, C. G., Gummere's Oldest English Epic...
Col well, W. A., On an Eighteenth Century
Translation of Burger's Lenore
Priest, Geo. M., A Parallel between Hoffmann
and Ludwig
Cunliffe, J. W., Eastward Hoe
Croissant, De Witt C., Gibber's Cinna's Con-
spiracy
Northup, Clark S., Like a Midsomer Rose
( The Three Days Tourna-
ment Motif in Mar-
Bruce, J. Douglas. •{ lowe's Tamburlaine
Lord Byron's Stanzas to
the Po
Johnson, H. P., Gray's Elegy
Klaeber, Fr., OS. Genesis, 288 ft...
BRIEF MENTION.
64, 96, 160.
124-125
125
126-127
127-128
128
157
158
158
158-159
159
159
196
224
225
225-226
226
226-227
227-228
228
253-254
254-255
255-256
256
257
257
257-258
258-259
259-260
260
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV, 1909.
Abel, Rose, Cumberland's Edition of Chaucer.. 159
Adams, Joseph Quincy, Jr., An Unnoted Par-
ody of Hamlet 179
Allen, Edw. A., The First Folio of Shake-
speare, and the New English Dictionary 38-43
— "Never Less Alone than When Alone" 122
Anglo-Saxon Literature (see Brandl and Law-
rence) 149-153
Arnold, Robert F., Das Moderne Drama (see
Butt) 90-91
Aucassin et Nicolette, A Parallel to — 73-74
Baist, Notes on — Grammatik der Spanischen
Sprache', 1906
Baker, Geo. M., Some References to German
Literature in English Magazines of the
Early Eighteenth Century
Baldwin, C. S., A College Manual of Rhetoric
(see McBryde, Jr.)
Barclay, Alexander, Notes on the Egloges of —
Baskervill, C. R., The Source of the Main
Plot of Shirley's Love Tricks
Batt, Max, Arnold : Das Moderne Drama
Benham, Allen R., A Note on Paradise Lost....
— John Churton Collins — A Review
Ben Jonson's Grammar
Beowulf nebst dem Finnsburg-Bruchstiick (see
Holthausen and Klaeber)
van Sever, Ad., Les Poetes du Terroir du xv«
siecle au xxe sificle (see Schinz)
Birnam, The Wood of —
Blake, James Vila, Poems
Blochmann, Reinhart, Introduction to Scientific
German (see Meisnest and Lieder)
Blondheim, D. S., A Parallel to Aucassin et
Nicolette, vr, 26
Bodtker, A. Trampe, French Words in English
After 1066
Bohn, Wm. E., The Decline of the English
Heroic Drama
Brandl, Alois, Anglo-Saxon Literature (see
Lawrence)
Brewer, W. F., "Never less Alone than when
Alone"
Bright, James W., On the Text of the Prose
Portion of the ' Paris Psalter '
Bronk, I., The Po&ies Diverges of Antoine
Furetiere (see Warren)
Brooke, C. F. Tucker, On the Date of the First
Edition of Marlowe's Edward 11
-The Shakespeare Apocrypha (see Haney)...
Browning's ' Never less Alone than when
Alone'; Milton, Comus, 598
— "Never Less Alone than when Alone"
— Notes on —
— Epilogue to the Two Poets of Croisic
Bruce, J. Douglas, The Three Days' Tourna-
ment Motif in Marlowe's Tamburlaine
— Lord Byron's Stanzas to the Po
163-166
111-114
146-149
8-10
100-101
90-91
64
204-208
137-140
94-95
252
229-230
96
26-28
73-74
214-217
49-54
149-153
226
77-78
190-191
71-73
184-186
54-55
123
161-163
210-214
257-258
258-259
Bruner, Jas. D., Studies in Victor Hugo's
Dramatic Characters (see E. H. Lewis)
Buchanan, Milton A., Chorley's Catalogue of
Comedias and Autos of Frey Lope Felix de
Vega Carpio
— " " ii 11 u jj
Burger's Lenore, On an Eighteenth Century
Translation of —
Bushee, Alice H., The Spanish Novel
Busse, A., Two Notes on Grillparzer
Byron and Shakespeare
Campbell, Killis, The Seven Sages of Rome
(see Cox) ............................................
Carlson, J. S., Swedish Grammar and Reader
(see Flom) .........................................
Carducci-Leopardi Parallel, A — .................
Carlton, W. N. G, Flom : A History of Scan-
dinavian Studies in American Universities..
Celtic Tradition, King Lear in — ..................
Chaucer's Envoy to Bukton ............................
— Le Songe Vert and — Dream Poems ...........
— and the Cleomades ...................................
— An Early Analogue of — Prioresses Tale ......
— and the Cleomades ....................................
— Cumberland's Edition of — .....................
- Knight's Tale, vv. 975-977, The Meaning of
Feeldes in — .......................................
Child, C. G., Gummere's Oldest English Epic....
Chorley's Catalogue 01 Comedias and Autos of
Frey Lope Felix de Vega Carpio ..............
Churchman, Philip H., Byron and Shakespeare
Gibber's Cinna's Conspiracy ...........................
Clapp, John M., Conant : The Oriental Tale in
England in the Eighteenth Century .........
Collins, John Churton, A Review ..................
Collitz, H., Streitberg : Die Gotische Bibel ......
Colwell, W. A, On an Eighteenth Century
Translation of Burger's Lenore ................
Conant, M. P., The Oriental in England in the
Eighteenth Century (see Clapp) .............
Cook, Albert S., A Simile of Browning's ;
' Never Less Alone than when Alone ' ;
Milton, Comus, 598 ................................
— Marlowe, Doctor Fauslus 13. 109 ; Cynewulf,
Christ 930-940 .......................................
Cooper, Lane, The " Forest Hermit " in Cole-
ridge and Wordsworth ...........................
Cooper, W. A., Goethe's Quotation from Hut-
ten in Dichtung und Wahrheit. I .............
Cox, Edward Godfrey, King Lear in Celtic
Tradition ....... . .....................................
— Campbell : The Seven Sages of Rome .........
Criseida .....................................................
Croissant, De Witt C., Gibber's Cinna's Con-
spiracy ................................................
Cunliffe, J. W., Eastward Hoe ......................
28-29
167-171
198-204
254-255
127-128
108-109
126-127
153-156
252-253
243-244
88-90
1-6
14-15
46-47
95
132-133
158
159
197-198
253-254
167-171
126-127
257
186-187
204-208
181-183
254-255
186-187
54-55
166-167
33-36
80-83
101-105
1-6
153-156
65-67
257
256
11
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV, 1909.
Cupid and Psyche, A Modern Version of — .... 79-80
Curdy, A. R, Tbieme and Effinger : A French
Grammar 188-190
Curme, George, The Indicative after a Present,
the Subjunctive after a Past 97-100
Cushman, R. M., Concerning Fulke Greville's
(Lord Brooke's) Tragedies, Alaham and
Mustapha 180-181
Cutting, S. W., MacGillivray, J and William-
son, E. J. : Der Schimmelreiter von Theo-
dor Storm 21-24
Danton, G. H., Spanhoofd : Arnold's Fritz auf
Ferien
29-30
— Mehring : Die Lessing Legende 87-88
— Ernst, Otto: Lessing. 87-88
Davidson, F. J. A., The Meaning of Vita
Nuova 227-228
Dryden's Virgil, The Second Edition of — 31
Dumas, Voltaire and — 62-63
Dunbar, A. M., Wordsworth's Use of Milton's
Description of the Building of Pandemo-
nium 124-125
Dunbar, New Stanzas by — 110-111
Eastward Hoe , 256
Edwardes, Marian, A Summary of the Liter-
atures of Modern Europe (see Keidel) 156
Effinger, John R., Thieme, H. P., and — , A
French Grammar (see Curdy) 188-190
Eighteenth Century, Some Italian Satiric Predi-
cates of the — 101-108
— Some References to German Literature in
English Magazines of the Early — 111-114
English, The New — Dictionary, The First Folio
of Shakespeare and — 38-43
— The Decline of the — Heroic Drama 49-54
— rasher, Spanish raga 63
— Some References to German Literature in —
Magazines of the Early Eighteenth Century 111-114
— An Unknown Middle — Translation of
L'Epilre d1 Othea 122-123
— Theories of Vision in — Poetry 125
— A Concordance to the — Poems of Thomas
Gray (see Northup) 187-188
— French Words in — After 1066 214-217
— A Middle — Addition to the Wager Cycle... 218-222
Ernst, Otto, Lessing (see Danton) 87-88
Etymological Notes 47-49
Flom, Geo. T., A History of Scandinavian Stu-
dies in American Universities (seeCarlton) 88-90
— Carlson: Swedish Grammar and Reader. 252-253
Ford, J. D. M., Pidal : Cantar de Mio Cid 83-87
"Forest Hermit," The — in Coleridge and
Wordsworth 33-36
French Words in English After 1066 214-217
Freytag's Die Journalisten, The Singular Fate of
a Passage in — 13-14
Fulke Greville's (Lord Brooke's) Tragedies,
Alaham and Mustapha, Concerning — 180-181
Gerig, John L., De Pereda : Pedro Sdnchez... 222-224
German Literature, Some References to — in
English Magazines of the Early Eighteenth
Century 111-114
German, Contemporary — Fiction and Narra-
tive Poetry
— Historical — Grammar (see Wright and von
Jagemann
- Modern — Prose (see Nichols and White)...
Gerould, Gordon Hall, An Early Analogue of
Chaucer's Prioresses Tale
Gibbs, R. Lincoln, The Meaning of Feeldes in
Chaucer's Knights Tale, vv. 975-77
God, The Four Daughters of — (see Traver and
Ramsay)
Goethe's Quotation from Hutten in Dichtuno
und Wahrheit. I....
II.
— A — Library
Gray, Thomas, A Concordance to the English
Poems of — (see Northup)
Gray's Elegy
Griffin, Nathaniel Edward, Dares and Dictyi
(see Hamilton)
Grillparzer, Two Notes on —
Gummere's Oldest English Epic
Hamilton, Geo. L.( Griffin, N. E.: Dares and
Dictys
Hamlet H, 2, 181-187
— Kin and Kindein —
— (see L. F. Mott)
— An Unnoted Parody of —
Hammond, E. P., Dance Macabre
Handschin, Charles Hart, Bibliographie zur
Teclmik des Neueren Deutschen Romans...
Haney, John Louis, An Evening with Coleridge
— Brooke : The Shakespeare Apocrypha
Hanford, Jas. Holly, A Note on the ' ' Scheirer
Ehythmus"
Hardy, Alexander, A Poem Addressed to
Hatfield, Jas. Taft, Wilhelm Mailer's Oedichte
(see Walz)
Havens, Raymond D., Literature in Melancholy
Herriot, Edouard, Madame Recamier et sea
Amis (see Schinz)
Hill, N. W., The Wood of Birnam
Hinckley, Henry Barrett, Chaucer and the
Cleomades
- Theories of Vision in English Poetry
Hollander, Lee M., Olson: Henrik Ibsen:
Brand
Holthausen, F., Beowulf nebst dem Finnsburg-
Bruchstiick (see Klaeber)
House, R. T., Writers with New Ideas
Howard, W. G., An Obscure Allusion in Herder
Hugo, Victor, Studies in — Dramatic Charac-
ters (see Bruner and Lewis)
Hulme, W. H., A Middle English Addition to
the Wager Cycle
Huszur, Guillaume, Moliure et 1'Espagne (see
Ray)
Ibershoff, C. H., The Singular Fate of a Pas-
sage in Freytag's Die Journalisten 13-14
— On a Passage of Friedrich Riickert 78-79
— Concerning the Tell Soliloquy 208-210
Ibsen, Henrik, Brand ( see Olson and Hollander) 140-142
178-179
193-195
195-196
132-133
197-198
91-94
80-83
101-105
160
187-188
259-260
16-26
108-109
253-254
16-26
95-99
157
159
179
63
230-234
61-62
184-186
74-76
171-172
157
226-227
120-121
229-230
95
125
140-142
94-95
225-226
228
28-29
218-222
24-26
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV, 1909.
in
Jn Mtmoriam, Poems in the Stanzas of — 67-70
Italian Satiric Predicates of the Eighteenth Cen-
tury, Some — 101-105
— Use of Suo for Loro in Old — 133-134
— Venetian Businello = — Emissario 176-178
von Jagemann, H. C. G., Wright : Historical
German Grammar 193-195
Johnson, H. P., Gray's Elegy 259-260
Johnston, O. M., Use of Suo for Loro in Old
Italian 133-134
Jones, H. S. V., Chaucer and the Cleomcufes ... 158
Keidel, Geo. C., Marian Edwardes : A Sum-
mary of the Literatures of Modern Europe 156
Keiter, Heinrich, and Keller, Tony, Der Ro-
man : Geschichte, Theorie, und Technik
des Romans und der erzlihlenden Dicht-
kunst ( see Skinner) 249-251
Kellerman, Ivy, A Modern Version of Cupid
and Psyche 79-80
Kip, H. Z., Priest : dbernand von Erfurt 145-146
Kipling, Echoes of the Classics in — 217-218
Kittredge, G. L., Chaucer's Envoy to Buklon.... 14-15
Klaeber, Fr., Holthausen : Beowulf nebst dem
Finnsburg-Bruchstiick 94-95
— OS. Genesis, 2882 260
von Klenze, Camillo, Steinert : Das Farbenemp-
finden des Ludwig Tiecks 237-249
Kurtz, Benjamin P., Style and Habit : A Note 10-13
Lancaster, H. Carrington, A Poem Addressed
to Alexander Hardy 171-172
Lang, H. R., " Ysopete" in Spanish 158
Laubscher, Gustav G., Notes on the Spanish
Y$opoo! 1496 70-71
Lawrence, A. W., Brandl : Anglo-Saxon Lit-
erature 149-150
Leopardi, Silence and Solitude in the Poems
of — 172-176
Levi, Moritz, Silence and Solitude in the Poems
of Leopardi 172-176
Lewis, E. H., Bruner : Studies in Victor
Hugo's Dramatic Characters 28-29
Lieder, Frederick W. C., Meisnest, F. W.:
Introduction to Scientific German by Rein-
hart Blochmann 26-28
Like a Midsomer Rose 257
Livingston, A. A., Some Italian Satiric Predi- y
cates of the Eighteenth Century 101-108
— Venetian Businello = Italian Emissario 176-178
— A Carducci-Leopardi Parallel 243-244
Lord Byron's Stanzas to the Po 258-259
McBryde, Jr., J. M., Baldwin : A College Man-
ual of Rhetoric 146-149
MacCracken, Henry Noble, King James' Claim
to Rhyme Royal 31-32
— New Stanzas by Dunbar 110-111
— An Unknown Middle English Translation of
L' Epitre o? Othea 122-123
— An Unprinted Version of " A Christemasse
Song" , 225
MacGillivray, John, and Williamson, E. J.,
Der schimmelreiter von Theodor Storm (see
Cutting) 21-24
McLaughlin, Wm. A., Souriau : Moralistes et
Poe^es
Marden, C. C., Northup : El Libro de los Gatos
Marks, J., Page, C. H. : Moliere
Marlowe's Edward II, On the Date of the First
Edition of —
— Doctor Fauslus 13. 109. Cynewulf, Christ
930-940
— Tamburlaine, The Three Days' Tournament
in —
May, Alfred A., A Source for Christ, 11. 348-377
Mehring, Die Lessing Legende (see Danton)...
Meisnest, Frederick William, Introduction to
Scientific German by Reinhart Blochmann.
Melton, W. F., The Rhetoric of John Donne's
Verse (see Wauchope)
Moffatt, James Hugh, Honor to whom Honor
is due
Moritz, Robert E., On a Quantitative Relation
Governing Certain Linguistic Phenomena..
Moliere et 1'Espagne (see Huszar and Ray)
— (see Page and Marks)
Morgan, L. B., Notice of Omissions
Morrison, Frederick W., and Churchman,
Philip H., La Alegria del Capitan Ribot
by Armando Palacio Valdes (see Skinner)
Morton, E. P., Poems in the Stanzas of In
Mtmonam
Mott, Lewis F., Hamlet
Mustard, Wilfred P., Notes on the Egloges of
Alexander Barclay
— A Correction
Nichols, A. B., Modern German Prose (see
White)
von No6, A. C., A Goethe Library
Northup, Clark S. , Like a Midsomer Rose
Northup, G. T., El Libro de los Gatos (see
Marden )
— An Allusion in Lope de Vega
— A Concordance to the English Poems of
Thomas Gray
Norton, G., Villey : Les Sources Italiennes de
la "Deffense et Illustration de la langue
franyoise" de Joachim Du Bellay
Noyes, Geo. R., The Second Edition of Dry-
den's Virgil
Olson, Julius E., Henrik Ibsen : Brand
Hollander)
OS. Genesis, 288 ff
see
Padelford, F. M., Ramkt II, 2, 181-187
Page, Curtis Hidden, Moliere (see Marks)
'Paris Psalter,' On the Text of the Prose Por-
tion of the —
Patterson, Shirley Gale, Voltaire and Dumas...
— Interchange of Suffixes, -aster, -ignus and -icus
Pellissier, Georges, Le xvne Siecle par leg
textes- Voltaire philosophe (see Schinz)
de Pereda, Jos£ M., Pedro Sanchez (see Gerig)
Phelps, Wm. Lyon. Notes on Browning
Pidal, R. Menendez, Cantar de Mio Cid (see
Ford)
Pietsch, K., Don Quixote I, Pr&logo : Non Bene
Pro Toto Libertas Venditur Auro
116-120
56-59
142-144
71-73
166-167
257-258
158-159
87-88
26-28
114-116
224
234-241
24-26
142-144
96
59-60
67-70
159
8-10
64
195-196
160
250
56-59
62
187-188
191-192
31
140-142
260
95-96
142-144
77-78
62-63
241-243
183-184
222-224
161-163
83-87
55-56
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV, 1909.
Pietsch, K., Notes' on Baist Grammatik der
Spanischen Sprache2 1906 163-166
Portuguese, Old — Texts 64
Priest, Geo. M., Ebernand von Erfurt (see Kip) 145-146
— A Parallel between Hoffmann and Ludwig.. 255-256
Queen of Corinth, One of the Sources of the — 76-77
Quantitative Relation Governing certain Lin-
guistic Phenomena, On a — 234-241
Ramsay, Robert L., Traver : The Four Daugh-
tersof God 91-94
Randall, J. D., A Note on Heine's Hanreise... 123
Bay, J. A., Huszar, G.: Moliere et 1'Espagne.. 24-26
Richards, Alfred E., Carlyle's WUMm Meix-
tar's Apprenticeship 128
Romans, Bibliographie zur Technik des neueren
Deutschen — 230-234
Royster, James Finch, A Note on Spenser's
Archaism and Cicero 30-31
Riickert, Friedrich, On a Passage of — 78-79
Ruutz-Rees, C., Some Debts of Samuel Daniel
to Du Bellay 134-137
Salomon, Michel, Charles Nodier et la groupe
romantique 192-193
Scandinavian Studies, A History of — in Amer-
ican Universities (see Flora and Carlton)... 88-90
"Scheirer Rythmus," A Note on — 76-77
Schinz, Albert, Herriot : Madame Recamier et
sesAmis 120-121
— Bever, van Ad.: Les Poetes du Terroir du
xve siecle au xxe siecle 252
— Pellissier : Le xvue Siecle par les Textes-
Voltaire philosophe 183-184
Schwartz, Herbert F., One of the Sources of
the Queen of Corinth 76-77
Shakespeare, The First Folio and the New Eng-
lish Dictionary 38-43
— Byron and— 126-187
— A New Trace of — Influence upon Schiller's
Wallenstein 129-132
— The — Apocrypha (see Brooke and Haney) 184-186
— and his Ridicule of 'Cambyses' 244-247
Shanks, L. P., Salomon : Charles Nodier et le
groupe romantique 192-193
Shirley's Love Tricks, The Source of the Main
Plot of— 100-101
Sidey, Thos. K. , Echoes of the Classics in Kip-
ling 217-218
von Sickingen's, Franz, Appeal to the German
Nation 43-46
Skinner, M. M., Keiter and Keller : Der Ro-
man : Geschichte, Theorie, und Technik des
Romans und der erziihlenden Dichtkunst... 249-251
Skinner, P. O., Morrison, F. W. , and Church-
man, P. H. , La Alegraia del Capitan Ribot
by Armondo Palacio Valdes 59-60
Souriau, Maurice, Moralistes et Poetes (see
McLaughlin) 116-120
Spanhoofd, A. \V., Arnold's Fritz auf Ferien
(see Danton) 29-30
Spanish raga, English ranker 63
— Ysopo of 1496, Notes on the — 70-71
— A Note on — Orthography 96
Spanish, The — Novel 127-128
- " Ysopete" in — 158
Spenser's Archaism, A Note on — and Cicero... 30-31
Steinert, Walter, Das Farbenempfinden Ludwig
Tiecks (see von Klenze) 237-249
Storm, Theodor, Der Schimmelreiter (see Mac-
Gillivray, Williamson and Cutting) 21-24
Streitberg, Wilhelm, Die Gotische Bibel (see
Collitz) 181-183
Sturtevant, Albert Morey, A New Trace of
Shakespeare's Influence upon Schiller's
Wallenstein 129-132
Style and Habit : A Note 10-13
Suffixes, -aster, -ignus, and -icus, Interchange
of — ! 241-243
Sypherd, W. Owen, Le Sange Vert and Chau-
cer's Dream Poems 46-47
Tell Soliloquy, Concerning the — 208-210
Thayer, Harvey W., Thiimmel' s Reisc and Lau-
rence Sterne 6-8
Thieme, Hugo P., and Effinger, John R. , A
French Grammar (see Curdy) 188-19Q
Thiiinmel's Reise and Laurence Sterne 6-8
Tiljey, M. P., A Note on Twelfth Night 121-122
— Shakespeare and his Ridicule of ' Cambyses ' 244-247
Tombo, Rudolf, Jr. , Contemporary German Fic-
tion and Narrative Poetry 178-179
Traver, Hope, The Four Daughters of God (see
Ramsay) 91-94
(( (I (t (I t( (f 1QA
Tristan on the Continent before 1066 37-38
Tuttle, E. H., English rasher ; Spanish raga 63
— Note on Spanish Orthography 96
Valdes, Armando Palacio, La Alegrfa del Cap-
itan Ribot (see Morrison, Churchman, and
Skinner)... 59-60
Vie'tor, Wilhelm, Kin and Kindt in Hamlet 157
Villey, Pierre, Les Sources italiennes de la
" Deffense et Illustration de la langue fran-
coise" de Joachim Du Bellay (see Norton) 191-192
Voltaire and Dumas 62-63
Voss, Ernst, Franz Von Sickingen's Appeal to
the German Nation 43-46
Waite, A. V., Ben Jonson's Grammar 137-140
Walz, John A., Hatfield : Wilhelm Mailer's
Oedichte 157
Warren, F. M., Tristan on the Continent before
1066 37-38
— Bronk ; The Poesies Diverses of Antoine
Furetiere 190-191
Wauchope, Geo. A., Melton : The Rhetoric of
John Donne's Verse 114-116
Wells, John Edwin, James ThornV>son and
Milton 3 60-61
White, II. S., Nichols : Modern German Prose 195-196
Wilkins, E. H., Criseida 65-67
Winter, J. G., Browning's Epilogue to the Two
Poets of Croisic 210-214
Wood of Birnam, The— 229-230
Wood, F. A., Etymological Notes 47-49
Wright, Joseph, Historical German Grammar
(see Von Jagemann) 193-195
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES
VOL. XXIV.
BALTIMORE, JANUARY, 1909.
No. 1.
KING LEAR IN CELTIC TRADITION.
In an Ossianic ballad called Dan Liuir, printed
by J. F. Campbell in his Leabhar na Feinne l
(1872) from a collection made by Duncan Ken-
nedy in 1774, tradition represents Ossian as relating
to St. Patrick an interesting episode in the careers
of King Lear and Finn MacCumhail. The vicis-
situdes of the ever-rankling quarrel between Finn
and Goll, chief of Clan Morna, a rival band of
Fianna, compelled Finn to betake himself to the
court of Lear, where he was entertained with
bountiful cheer, bardic songs, and the music of
harps. The feast was interrupted by the approach
of Goll with a powerful fleet. Whereupon the
obliging and amicable Lear ventured forth with
only three attendants to meet Goll, whom he suc-
ceeded in reconciling to Finn.
Finn found opportunity for requiting the hos-
pitality of Lear, when one day he descried the
latter, ' ' a poor, infirm, weak, and despise4 old
man," a veritable "Lear's shadow," wandering
about unattended by even a poor fool, bereft of
his kingdom, and reduced to beggary. What
strange mutations had brought him to this low
estate, whether blood had proved unkind, or
machinations of foes too successful, the ballad
fails to record, being more taken up with the
generosity of Finn in returning favor for favor.
The above ballad has been reprinted along with
the music, which is of a character peculiar to
Fingalian songs, by Mr. Malcolm MacFarlane
in Guth na Bliadhna (Aberdeen, Aug., 1907).
In the following translation of this version, the
present writer is indebted to Mr. MacFarlane for
the explanation of a number of obscure passages :
Finn journied one day to the house of Liur
In company with thirty-one men ;
The man of least account among us
Was chief of an army of three nines.
1 A collection of Scotch Gaelic traditional ballads re-
lating chiefly to the Ossianic cycle ; see pp. 125 S.
The wife of Liur sat at the shoulder of Finn,
Finn sat at the side of Liur ;
King Art sat at the side of Aodh,
By the side of Aodh of mirthful mien.
Conachar and Cormac sat together
By the side of Aodli of the beautiful skin,
And so on forth:
Every one that was there sat down to meat.
Through the hall was wafted the music of harps
And bardic songs chanted melodiously ;
The humped bow on every instrument
Was making mirth and music.
Thus we wliiled away the time,
And pleasant indeed was our state ;
Wanting neither honey nor wine,
Nor melody and the music of fiddles.
In such wise were we till the day of the meeting,
Merry, joyous, and with sorrow banished ;
Until there broke upon our view
The host of Goll drawing near on the wave.
Then it was that Finn spoke out :
" I see a sight that is unpleasant to me :
Yonder I see the fleet of Goll
Sailing toward us to Driom-feann.
" And banners I see floating high
On the pointed masts over Driom-bhagh ;
In that conflict of banners above our heads
We have no part nor our host of spears."
Cormac of victories advised us then ;
Gave us advice that was truly hard :
"Though wise in experience are you all ,
You three shall protect us from that man."
Then it was that Liur spoke out :
" Goll is under obligation to me ;
And if the man remembers it,
He would account me well deserving of good-will."
Liur sallied out then to meet Goll,
Accompanied by three others on horse-back ;
And pleasantly he saluted him, —
Great to-night is the glory of my tale.
"May fortune prosper you, O Goll,
The best of men under the sun ;
The best are you for favor and honesty,
Better far are you than me.
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
" Do you remember the day of the speckled horse,
On Fraochan above Tom-cliar ?
When I gave to you the gray horse
Would bear you speedily over the mountain?"
" Since you have done thus to me, O Liur,
Most hospitable of men under the sun,
If you have a request to prefer,
Kise, and you will get it readily."
" There was a guest in my house last night,
Fionn MacCumhail, strong as the crust of the earth,
(obscure)
Allow him to depart safely over the mountain,
Since he has eaten at my board."
" Return whence ye came,
O brave host from Innis-freoin ;
And by the soul that lives in my body,
The word of my mouth will not be broken."
"We all proceeded to the house of Liur,
And found therein both honey and wine ;
Though to-day it is cold and desolate,
It was once an abode of kings.
I myself saw the house of Liur
And plentiful within was honey and wine ;
And I myself saw afterwards
Liur and his hospitable wife in want.
And I myself saw afterwards
Wanting food both man and wife,
Making their way from house to house
Seeking what house would provide them meat.
One day while Fionn was hunting
With his Fianna brave on Ben Luir,
Whom did he see afar off
But the high king named Liur.
At once he sped to meet him,
For the affection and love he bore him ;
He permitted no one else to accompany him
That Liur -might be spared all shame.
"Long life to you, O Liur,
Bestower of favors, obliging and kind ;
Many gifts have you made to me,
Asking nothing in return.
' ' You gave to me while you sat at the wine
Thirty-one cows with their calves ;
A young fool calf following each cow,
On the heather above Driom-caol.
" You gave to me one hundred and eighty horses
To bear me safely away from danger ;
And thirty-one ships for my equipment,
To carry me home over the sea.
"Freely you bestowed those things on me,
Without refusal, without stint ;
Nor did you bespeak a price
For land and visit, speech and praise.. '*
"I am indeed no longer Liur,"
Said the man renowned for clemency ;
"Preferable far to me is death
Than to be found in his likeness."
" Truly you are no other than Liur,"
Eeplied the man of the beautiful skin ;
" Accordingly you will receive
Repayment in full, gift for gift.
"I'll give to you cow for cow,
I'll give to you horse for horse,
I'll give to you ship for ship,
To bear you safely o'er the waves.
"Every chief on the face of the earth
I'll force to restore your land to you ;
I'll make you full wealthy again,
And send you safely to your house."
My king fulfilled everything he promised.
Six days they spent then in sports together ;
In fair garments he clothed them both,
The wife and hero of greatest fame.
A hundred horses were sent to defend him
And to guide him to his land ;
Pleasant and mirthful was the time
The Fians spent in company with the hero.
These were the exchanges the two kings made,
Thus they repaid their obligations to each other ;
Lovely were they, amiable and generous,
Full of mercy and courtesy.
A thousand blessings to you every season,
O Oisin, hospitable and sweet of voice ;
For the tales so pleasant
You have related to me during my life.
The normal disregard of popular tradition for
congruity has here operated to reduce to a petty
kinglet a sea-god whose origin and nature are
enveloped in an obscurity as baffling as a druidic
mist. From the failure of the few meagre refer-
ences to him in Irish literature to body him forth
with well-defined features, we know little of him
beyond that his name means the sea (Ler nom. ,
Lir gen.), and that he belongs to the Tuatha de
Danann, or folk of the goddess Danu. How far
he justifies the title of the Irish Poseidon, some-
times conferred on him by modern writers, is
beyond conjecture, for Irish legend early stripped
him of all association with the sea, bestowing on
his son Manannan mac Lir the attributes of a sea
divinity. In Irish poetry, however, is preserved
the memory of his connection with a watery realm.
Such a reference is to be found in the Song of the
January, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
Sea, for the Sea-Kings of Dublin by Rurnann, the
"Irish Virgil"2:
"Storm is on the plain of Lir (i. e., the sea)
Bursting o'er its borders here," etc.
"The ploughing of Lir"s vast plain
Brings to brave hosts pride and pain," etc.
The vast period of time over which his existence
stretches, together with the fact that most of the
tales which give him anything more than a local
habitation and a name, viz., the Ossianic, are
comparatively late, may account for the minifying
of his powers and his possible confusion with other
Lirs.
No one, to my knowledge, has approached the
subject of Lir from the Irish side except O' Curry,
whose article, however, is well-nigh inaccessible,
being locked up. as it were, in the exceedingly
scarce volumes of the Atlantis Papers.3 Hence
reproducing in part the argument of this valuable
contribution to the subject will be nearly equiv-
alent to offering new material. And since it is
impossible to consider Lir genealogically apart
from his son Mauannan mac Lir, to whose name
and fame he chiefly owes his perpetuation, the
nature and role of the latter must be involved in
the discussion.
It is chiefly in connection with the mysterious
race of the Tuatha de Danann that he is most
frequently met with. This race, in the mytho-
logical period of Irish history, overran Ireland as
the second great inigration. According to pagan
Irish belief, they descended upon the country from
Heaven ; later Christian coloring made them ap-
pear as having dwelt formerly in some northern
land, where they had learned druidery, i. e., magic,
which they employed to obscure the sun for three
days after their arrival. At any rate, all accounts
invest them with supernatural powers. They in
turn had to yield to the third and last body of
migrators, the Milesians, from whom are de-
scended the chief Gaelic families. After their
disastrous defeats by the latter at Taillten (Tel-
town) and Druim Lighcn (Drumleene), they
'Sards of the Gael and the Gull, Dr. George Sigerson,
2nd edit., 1907. (The) Kumann belongs probably to the
eighth century.
3 Note on Manannan mac Lir In Atlantis Papers, vol. IV,
pp. 226 ff.; O' Curry, 1863.
dispersed over the country, quartering themselves
in sid-brughs (fairy mansions) among the hills
and mountains, whence, still endowed with the
attributes of gods, they issued forth, invisible to
mortals, to work good or evil. The evolution of
popular belief has reduced them to the fabled life
of the "good people" of Irish fairy lore. They
are represented in Ossianic legends as sometimes
warring against Finn and the Fianna, and as some-
times coming to their aid ; e. g., in the Battle
of Ventry, whither they resorted in response to
Finn's appeal for help against the invading forces
of the King of the World. "Are those yonder
the Fianns of Erinn," asks the latter. "No,"
was the answer, ' ' another lot of the men of Erinn
that dare not be on the surface of the earth, but
live in sid-brughs under the ground, called Tuatha
de Danaun. " * As appears from this battle, al-
though of divine origin, they are not exempt from
being put to hard straits, nor even, as we learn
elsewhere, from violent death.
The tale naturally laid under requisition first
for material, because of its suggestive title and
its currency, is that of the The Fate of the Children
of Lir,5 belonging in manuscript to the seventeenth
century. This modernised story offers little to
link him with the character we know through
Geoffrey of Monmouth, unless it be the element
of tragic suffering that attends his footsteps. In
this tale the suffering is brought about, not through
filial ingratitude, but through treachery dealt out
by the step-mother on the children. The version
of this tale extant in the Book ofFermoy is signifi-
cant in that it represents Manannan mac Lir as pre-
siding over the assembly of the Tuatha de Danann
chiefs and apportioning out the land. Among
these chiefs is Lir, to whom is assigned for a
dwelling-place Sid Finnachaid, i. e., the hill of
the White Field, on the top of the Few moun-
tains in County Armagh. Apparently the Lir
of the famous ' ' Children ' ' is not he who is father
to Manannan.
In the Ossianic tales also he comes to light only
as a chief of the Tuatha de Danann race. That
* Cath. Finntraya, edit, with translation by Kuno Meyer,
1885.
5 Edit, with translation by O' Curry in Atlantis Papers,
vol. IV, 3863. Also translated in Joyce's Old Celtic Ro-
mances, 2nd edition, 1894.
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
he ia identical with the Lir of the preceding tale
is inferable from the name of his residence, Sid
Finnachaid, from his rank, and from the qualities
attributed to him. The few additional features
yielded up by these tales are as follows. He is
numbered among the Tuatha de Dananns who
hasten to the relief of Finn at the Battle of Ven-
try, where, however, he more than meets his
match in his mortal adversary. The Colloquy of
the Ancients* relates that, at a council held by
the Tuatha de Danann chiefs, one of them is made
to say, ' ' Let Lir of Sid Finnachaid advise us since
he is the oldest of the Tuatha de Danann. ' ' In
another place mention is made of Lir as engaged in
feuds with some of his brother chiefs, in one in-
stance marching to the assault accompanied by his
twenty-seven sons and their sons. In one of these
engagements, while seeking to avenge the slaughter
of his ' ' baleful bird " on Cailte, one of the Fianna,
who was enjoying the hospitality of Ilbreac mac
Manannan of Easa Ruaid (Assaroe), another of
the Tuatha de Danann, Lir lost his life. Cailte,
seeing the host approach, asked, " What seems to
you the most dangerous conflict ? " " The man
of greatest valor among the Tuatha de Danann, ' '
said they, "that is, Lir of Sid Finnachaid."
Cailte, true to his custom of choosing the most
perilous combat, sought out Lir, and after a
furious battle came off victor, leaving Lir dead
on the field.
Before we attempt to straighten out his genea-
logy, it will be well to dispose of two isolated refer-
ences to Lir. In the Bodleian Dinnsencas of
Smarm1 occur lines which remember his divine
origin : ' ' Sinend, daughter of Lodan Luchar, son
of Lir, out of the Land of Promise, ' ' etc. 0' Curry
mentions in his list of heroic tales named in the
Boo k of Leinster (twelfth century) the Three Cir-
cuits of the House of Lir." But this tale of the
attack on Lir's house has not been preserved.
6 Acattamh na Senorach, Irische Texte, vierte serie, 1
heft ; edited by W. Stokes from the Book of Lismore ( fif-
teenth century). The Colloquy is a series of dialogues
between Cailte, one of the last of the Fianna, and St.
Patrick.
7 See Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, O'Curry,
vol. n, Lecture vii, 1873.
^Lectures on Manuscript Materials, App. p. 584, O'Curry,
1873.
According to O'Curry,9 the only Lir mentioned
in the genealogical tract on the Tuatha de Danann
in the Book of Lecan (fourteenth-fifteenth centu-
ries) is he who was father to Manannan, and this
only in one stanza of an ancient fragmentary
poem quoted in this tract :
Manannan, son of Lir, from the Lake,
sought many battles ;
Oirbsen was his name ; after hundreds
of victories, of death he died.
Now, in a poem written by Flann of Monaster-
boice (ob. 1056) on the manner of death of the
Tuatha de Danann chiefs, we find another name
given to the father of Manannan : 10'
Elloit the renowned fell, —
The great fierce father of Manannan, —
And Donann, the perfect, comely,
By De-Domnann of the Formorians.
The son of Alloid the renowned fell,
The illustrious, wealthy Manannan,
In the battle in hard Cuilliun,
By the hand of Uillenn of the red weapons.
The parentage and locale of Manannan are
further illuminated by the following passage from
the Yellow Book of Lecan (fourteenth century)11 :
Manannan, the son of Alloit, a druid of the
Tuatha de Danann ; and it was in the time of
the Tuatha de Danann he flourished. Oirbsen,
indeed, was his true name. It was this Manannan
that resided in Arann (in the Firth of Clyde) and
this is the place which is called Emhain Abhlach
(Emain of the Apple-trees); and it was he that
was killed in the battle of Cuillinn, by Uillenn,
son of Catir, son of Nuada of the Silver Hand,
in contention for the sovereignty of Connacht ; and
when his grave was dug, it was then Loch Oirb-
sen burst over the land (out of the grave) so that
it was from him that Loch Oirbsen (now Loch
Corrib) is named ; he was the first Manannan.
This was certainly the Manannan who dis-
tributed the Tuatha de Danann chiefs to their
hill residences ; still he is not called the son of
Lir, though the first stanza quoted above, where
he is called Manannan, the son of Lir "from the
Lake," seems to identify him with Oirbsen, who
9 Note on Manannan mac Lir in Atlantis Papers.
10 Book of Leinster, fol. 6a ; the stanzas quoted are the
4th and the 29th.
11 The Ms. H. 2, 16, T. C. D., col. 881.
January, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
gave his name to Loch Oirbsen. This Oirbsen,
or Manannan, the son of Alloit, is again set down
as the son of Lir in an anonymous poem written
for Kaghnall Arannaeh (Randal of the Arann
Island), a Dublin Dane of the eleventh century.
In praise of Arann runs one stanza so :
If the hosts of the men of the lands were yours,
From the Boyne till you touched the Tiber,
More important to you for honey and mead-joy
Emhain (i. e., Arann) of the Son of Lir, son of Higher.
There can be no doubt that the " Son of Lir "
spoken of here was the great Manannan of Em-
hain of the Apple-trees. It would seem then that
tradition and scribal carelessness have confused
the two Manannans, attributing the acts, gifts,
and residence of the Son of Lir to the Son of
Alloit. That this confusion is of ancient stand-
ing may be seen from the following item taken
from the genealogical tract in the Book of Lecan :
These are the three sons of Alloit, son of Eladan
(son of Delbaeth, son of Neit), namely : Manan-
nan the merchant, who traded between Erinn and
and Albain ; and it was he that used to know
the coming of the foul or the fair weather in
the sky ; and Bron, the son of Alloit, . . - and
Ceiti, the son of Alloit.
Again in Cormac's Glossary — written about 890
— occurs another description of Manannan :
Manannan, son of Lir : that is, a famous mer-
chant who resided in Inis Mauann (the Isle of
Man) ; he was the best mariner that was in
Western Europe. . . . Inde Scoti Britones eum
deum vocaverunt maris ; ejus inde filium esse
dixerunt (i. e. , Mac Lir, son of the sea) ; et de
nomine Manannan, Inis Manannan dicta est
nomen, et de nomine Manann Insola Manann
dicta est.
We may then identify Manannan mac Lir, of
the Isle of Man, and of Emhain Abhlach, with
Manannan mac Alloit, of Loch Oirbsen, in Con-
nacht. He must not, however, be confounded
with the Manannan, son of Athgnai, who pro-
tected Naisi and Deirdre in their exile and who
nursed and reinstated their son after their death."
That the Lir slain by Cailte is not the Alloit, son
of Eladan, is clear enough, for the latter, be it
remembered, met his death at the hands of De-
18 The Fate of the Children of Uisnech ; see Atlantis Papers
p. 416, O'Curry. This Manannan 'is called the "fourth*
Manannan."
domnann, a Fomorian. We must look to the
poem on Randal Arannaeh for the true parentage
of Lir, the father of Manannan, for the Lir of
the Ossianic tales is spoken of as the son of Lugh-
aidh. So concludes O' Curry's argument.
That Manannan is a god, restless and fickle, as
fond of shifting his shape as his abode, is seldom
lost sight of in Irish romance. His mysterious
palace lies somewhere in an isle of the sea, inac-
cessible to the average navigator, where he holds
sway as Lord of the Land of Promise, of the
Happy Other-world, the Honey-plain, around
whose borders
" Summer sea-steeds leapt and ran
Far as reach the eyes of Bran.
Kivers run with honey clear
In the fair land of Mac Lir."
He possessed many famous weapons, some which
never failed to slay.13 Two of these, the " Great
Fury" and the "Little Fury," he loaned to
Diarmait in his flight with Grainne from the ven-
geance of Finn. His horse, called ' ' Splendid
Mane," which was fleeter than the wind and was
equally at home on water as on land, together
with his impenetrable armor, formed the equip-
ment of Lugh, when the latter, in his capacity of
ambassador, cast the Fomorian camp into won-
dering inquietude. His boat, named the "Wave-
sweeper," renowned for propelling and guiding
itself at the wish of its occupants, bore the ill-
fated Children of Tuirenn in their quest for the
treasures of the East. And his shield, which was
fashioned from the Ancient Dripping Hazel, the
withered tree on which was fixed the head of
Balor of the Evil Eye, after Lugh had cut it off
at the Battle of Moytura, later became the shield
of Finn.
Manannan mac Lir is an important figure in
the epic cycle of the Cuchullinn tales, which have
been approximated to the time of Christ, and also
plays a considerable part in the Ossianic cycle.
In the person of his own son Mongan, of the sixth
century, he brings about a re-birth of Finn, of
the third century.
Welsh legends present scarcely less hazy out-
lines of Lir. Here, too, divested of all remem-
" See The Mythology of the British Isles, p. GO, Charles
Squire, 1905.
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 1,
brance of his connection with the ocean, he is
well-nigh submerged in the fame of his son Man-
awyddan mac Llyr. Nor does the latter figure
entirely in the role of an ocean deity, but appears
also as a shoemaker and a tiller of the soil, having
been deposed from his throne by an intruder.14
Some reminiscences of his associations with the
Land of Promise, however, are evident in the
state of peace and plenty in which he and his
companions dwell so long as they carry about
with them the head of his brother Bran. That
he was a master of magic could be attested by no
less a personage than Arthur, who was at one
time a captive in the prison which Manawyddan
constructed of human bones for the confinement
of those who trespassed in his Underworld.
It has been suggested that the name Llyr Lle-
diath (Llyr of the Foreign Dialect) applied to
him in Welsh literature, and the name Iweridd
(Ireland), given to one of his wives, render
probable the supposition that he may have been
borrowed by the Britons from the Gaels subse-
quent to a common Celtic mythology.15 The
name Llyr itself is a source of confusion. The
Welsh translated the Latin Leir of Geoffrey of
Monmouth into Llyr.16 The form Leir looks to
be derived from legr- of Legraceaster, now Leices-
ter. The river Legra, from which the city took
its name, has been regarded as the old name of
the Soar, and as extant in that of the village
Leire, spelled Legre in the Doomsday Book. It
probably points back to a Legere or Ligere, which
recalls Liger, 'the Loire.'
He who would attempt to unravel the snarl in
which the stories of King Lear and his three
daughters have become involved in Welsh and
English tradition should consult The Story of King
Lear, wherein are discussed very thoroughly the
stories, their probable origin and relation, and
their fortune, until once for all time fixed by
Shakespeare. "
EDWARD GODFREY Cox.
Cornell University.
14 See " Manawyddan, the Son of Llyr," the Mabino-
gion, translated by Lady Guest, 1877.
^Arthurian Legends, p. 130, J. Rhys, 1891.
16 Celtic Folklore, vol. II, p. 547, J. Rhys, 1901.
"Published in Pcdasstra, No. xxxv, Wm. Perrett,
Berlin, 1904.
THUMMEL'S REISE AND LAURENCE
STERNE.
Moritz August von Thiimmel's Reise in die
mittaglichen Provinzen von Frankreich im Jahre
1785 bis 17S61 has been mentioned in a general
way as one of the most important German imita-
tions of Laurence Sterne. The following is an
attempt to show briefly the extent and nature of
Thummel's relationship to the English master
and to note some striking differences.
Thiimmel, like Sterne, starts out in pursuit of
health, but apart from this initial motive both
travellers are chiefly interested in the opportuni-
ties to observe the workings of the human heart.
They revel in sentimental situations and seek first
in every place stimulation of the sympathetic
emotions. Such expressions as " Das mensch-
liche Herz, " " Das Spiel des menschlichen Her-
zens," " Keuntnisse des menschlichen Herzens "
are of constant occurrence in Thummel's account
of his adventures. Both travellers ignore com-
pletely the ordinary objects of the sightseer's
interest. The passage in which Thummel ex-
presses his attitude of indifference with reference
to the sights of Paris seems hardly more than an
elaborated paraphrase of Yorick's well-known
statement. He testifies formally at the frontier
on his return that the purpose of his journey
has been the search for health and "die Ver-
besserung meines Verstandes und Herzens."
In motive and incident there are frequent sug-
gestions of Sterne. The traveller is asked to take
a lady into his carriage. He twice encounters
maimed veterans who are reminiscent of Sterne's
old soldiers. There is a sentimental visit to a
tomb like Sterne' s pilgrimage to that of Amandus
and Amanda. The beautiful woman crazed
through love and grief is a direct imitation of
Maria of Moulines. One notes further the peas-
ants' dance, Yorick-like praise of the patient ass,
a devotion to sentimental mementoes, ruthless
interruptions of sentimental situations by inter-
'In ten parts, Leipzig, 1791-1805. In two contem-
porary reviews Thiimmel's name is connected with that
of Sterne (Ally. dt. BMiothek, Vol. 108, pp. 343-349,
and Oothaische gelehrle Zeitungen, 1791, n, pp. 305-7).
For other reviews and contemporary opinions, see the
article on Thummel in Jordens.
January, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
position of the commonplace, tacit acknowledg-
ment of Yorick's division of travellers into cate-
gories, constant examination of motives for actions
and discussions of the moral aspect of conduct.
As in " Shandy ' ' discussions of curious topics are
found, and use is made of odd old books, casuists,
theologians and scientists. There are frequent
appeals to the reader to skip a passage, to help
the author, for instance, in describing the beauty
of a woman, or to justify a course of action. A
genuinely Sternesque idea is the oft-mentioned
collection of window-panes on which autographs
or sentiments have been written.
The relation between Thuinmel and his servants
is also reminiscent of Sterne ; for instance, he takes
one of them into the carriage with him, as Sterne
did, and lets another sit down at the table with
him. Thiinimel brings into his narrative also
certain objects which through Sterne had gained
a sentimental currency, like the horn snuff-box,
or nettles growing on a grave. But Thuinmel has
adopted Sterne's manner most completely and
most frequently in the scenes which border on
impropriety. He copies very successfully Sterne's
method in the clever insinuation of indelicacies.
The constant assertion of innocence in compro-
mising situations, the perilous proximity of sleep-
ing arrangements, accidental bodily contact and
nudity are part and parcel of Thummel's
machinery.
Several scenes of Thummel's journey could
hardly have been written had not Sterne's Pater
Lorenzo sentimentalized the monk. The most
striking of these scenes is the visit to the galley
where the capuchin labors in the midst of incon-
ceivable misery. As a narrator of sentimental
scenes Thummel, like Sterne, beholds in priest
and monk representatives of unselfish devotion
and human kindliness, but his general attitude
toward the Roman Church differentiates itself
widely from that of Sterne. His contempt for
certain phases of church life is openly and vigor-
ously expressed, and far beyond a flippant ridi-
cule of belief in saints and the efficacy of relics
one finds genuine opposition to the Catholic clergy
and formal attack upon the whole church system.
This antagonism is an unmistakable animus per-
vading much of the book. In his capacity of a
thoughtful observer of existing 'conditions Thum-
mel treats the church with hostility and scorn, as
a sentimentalist, he celebrates the devotion and
humanity which he witnesses in some of her ser-
vants. In Sterne's work scenes and events are
described only in the medium of his sentiments
and emotions ; in this consists the exquisite
simplicity of the Sentimental Journey. In Thu'm-
mel's record we have not only his emotions col-
oring his interpretations of foreign life, but we
find also at considerable length the convictions
and conclusions of an observing and analytic mind.
Thummel's outspoken German patriotism con-
trasts strikingly with Sterne's indifference. The
German seeks opportunity to hear his mother-
tongue, and to meet with his fellow-countryrnen.
Sterne avoids his compatriots. Descriptions of
external nature, so conspicuously absent in Sterne,
are extensive and appreciative in Thummel's
Reise. The trend of German thought and feel-
ing in the intervening decades made this inevit-
able, and, similarly, the idealization of rural
simplicity and the sentimental acceptance of
democratic ideas are more pronounced than in
Sterne's day. Rousseau's influence in these mat-
ters is marked. He is mentioned many times in
the book, and a bust of him is frequently referred
to as a mute critic of the author's conduct. The
idea of the return to nature is repeatedly and
definitely expressed.
In eccentricity of external form Thummel never
suggests Sterne. The narrative is like a succes-
sion of little stories bound together by the thread
of a traveller's experience. It would be possible
to take out of the book a number of separate
stories, well-rounded complete "Novelleu." The
frequent use of verse is a noteworthy difference in
external form from Sterne's two narratives. In
this respect we are reminded of Chapelle, who is
indeed mentioned once in the text.
In spite of dissimilarities Thummel's Reise
must be classed as a " Sentimental Journey ' ' ;
its spirit is in the main unquestionably derived
from Sterne ; the literary genre has been deter-
mined by the English master. In many cases
the influence of Sterne is also observed in the
details of the narrative and the style of the nar-
ration. Yet it is not a mere imitation. To
Sterne's sentimentalism have been added powers
of sound observation and reflection. It is a later
8
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
"Sentimental Journey," modified by decades of
more substantial democratic thought and social
theorizing, infused with a new devotion to the
beauties of nature, less humorous and essentially
German.
HARVEY W. THAYEE.
Princeton University.
NOTES ON THE EGLOGES OF
ALEXANDER BARCLAY.
It is well known that Alexander Barclay's
fourth Eclogue is a paraphrase of Mantuan's
fifth, also, that his fifth Eclogue is a paraphrase
of Mantuan's sixth, with the insertion of along
passage taken from Mantuan's seventh.1 But
this is not all that he borrowed from his chief
model in pastoral verse,2 from the poet whom he
extols even above Theocritus and Virgil —
As the moste famous Baptist Mantuan
The best of that sort since Poetes first began.
Even in his other Eclogues a part of the pastoral
setting is taken from Mantuan.
The beginning of the first — with its mention of
the great storm which has damaged the crops, its
rebellious complaint that evil falls upon the just
as well as upon the unjust, and its attempt to
justify the ways of God to men — is all due to the
beginning of Mantuan's third. Compare, for ex-
ample, the passage,
A thousande illes of daunger and sicknesse,
With diuers sores our beastes doth oppresse :
A thousande perils and mo if they were tolde
Dayly and nightly inuadeth our poore folde.
'For details, see O. Keissert, Neuphilologische Beitrdge,
Hannover, 1886, pp. 14-31. One item which is taken
bodily from Mantuan (vu, 42-54) is a "detailed notice
of a mural painting in Ely Cathedral, which has long
since disappeared " — a painting which struck one of Bar-
clay's editors as "very curious," Publications of the Percy
Society, vol. xxir, p. 43. It is cited also in the Dictionary
of National Biography (s. v. Alexander Barclay) as a proof
that Barclay's Eclogues were written at Ely.
2 Not that he translated "six of Mantuan's Eclogues,"
as Professor C. H. Herford says in his edition of The Shep-
heards Calender. The ' Prologe ' carefully states that "fiue
Egloges this whole treatise doth holde."
Sometime the wolfe our beastes doth denour,
And sometime the thefe awayteth for his hour :
Or els the souldiour much worse then wolfe or thefe
Agaynst all our flocke inrageth with mischefe,
with Mantuan, in, 22-24 :
Mille premunt morbi pecudes, discrimina mille
Sollicitant, latro insidias intentat ouili,
Atque lupus, milesque lupo f uracior omni ;
and the lines,
This is the rewarde, the dede and worke diuine,
Unto whose aulters poore shepheardes incline :
To offer tapers and candles we are fayne,
And for our offering, lo, this we haue agayne,
with Mantuan, in, 28-29 :
Hoc superi faciunt, quibus inclinamur ad aras,
Et qnibus offerimus faculas et cerea uota.
Nor can the two speakers begin their paraphrase of
the Miseries Ourialium of ^Eneas Sylvius without
being reminded of Mantuan's ninth Eclogue, De
Moribus Curice Romance. Hence the punning
allusion to one "worthy courtier," Bishop
Alcock,
He all was a cocke, he wakened us from slepe,
And while we slumbred he did our foldes kepe, etc.,
which is adapted from the complimentary allusion
to Falco Sinibaldus, ' ' ouium custos ipso uigilan-
tior Argo " —
Pastor adest, quadam ducens ex alite nomen, etc.
The beginning of the second Eclogue — where
Comix has been detained by an overflow of the
river, and by the labor of "strengthing our
bankes, and heyghting them agayne" — is bor-
rowed from the beginning of Mantuan's second.
Compare Coridon's comment on the situation,
The earth in this poynt is like maners of men,
From bye groundes water descendeth to the fen.
The hye mountaynes of water them discharge,
And lade the riuers with floudes great and large.
Agayne the riuers dischargeth them likewise,
And chargeth the Sea ; so mens common gise
Is alway to lay the burthen or the sacke
( Which them sore grieueth ) upon some other backe,
with the comment of Fortunatus, Mantuan, n,
12-16,
11.1111 liquitur altis
Nix hyberna iugis, implent caua flumina monies :
Se exonerant fluuiosque onerant : sic flumina rursum
January, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
9
Se exoneraut, pelagusque onerant. hominum quoque mos
est,
Quse nos cunque premunt, alieno imponere tergo.
In the fifth Eclogue, in addition to all that is
taken from Mantuan's sixth and seventh, there is
a passage which comes from Mantuan's second.
Compare the words of Amintas, toward the close
of the poem,
What man is faultlesse, remember the village,
How men uplondish on holy dayes rage.
Nought can them tame, they be a beastly sort,
In sweate and labour hauing moste chiefe comfort.
On the holy day assoone as morne is past,
When all men resteth while all the day doth last.
They drinke, they banket, they reuell and they iest,
They leape, they daunce, despising ease and rest.
If they once heare a bagpipe or a drone,
Anone to the elrue or Oke they be gone.
There use they to daunce, togambolde and to rage,
Such is the custome and use of the village.
When the ground resteth from rake, plough and wheles
Then moste they it trouble with burthen of their heles.
To Bacchus they banket, no feast is festiuall,
They chide and they chat, they vary and they brail,
They rayle and they route, they reuell and they crye,
Laughing and leaping, and making cuppes drye,
with Mantuan, n, 66-75,
Kustica gens, nulla genus arte domabile, semper
Irrequietum animal gaudet sudore, peracto
Mane sacro, testa (quando omnibus otia) luce,
Ipsa oti ac famis impatiens epulatur, et implet
Ingluuiem, audito properat tibicine ad ulmum,
Hie furit, hie saltu fertur bouis instar ad auras.
Quam rastris uersare nefas et uomere, terrain
Calcibus obduris et inerti mole fatigat,
Ac ferit, et tota Baccho facit orgia luce,
Vociferans, ridens, saliens, et pocula siccans.
In Barclay's 'Prologe,' too, there is an inter-
esting parallel to a passage in Mantuan's dedi-
catory epistle. This epistle, dated 1498,3 begins
with a playful riddle :
Audi, o Pari, aenigma perplexum, quod CEdipodes ipse
non solueret. Ego quinquagenarius et iam canescens,
adoleseentiam meam reperi, et habeo adolescentiam simul
et senectam.
The explanation is, that in the previous year he
had found a certain youthful composition of his
own, consisting of eight Eclogues and, " ab ilia
8 The Dictionary of National Biography (s. v. Alexander
Barclay) says that Mantuan's Eclogues " appeared about
1400."
setate," entitled Adolescentia. And now he
sends it forth again, in revised and augmented
form. But history repeats itself, and it was not
long before Barclay could report a similar ex-
perience :
But here a wonder, I fortie yere saue twayne
Proceeded in age, founde my first youth agayne.
To finde youth in age is a probleme diffuse,
But nowe heare the truth, and then no longer cause.
As I late turned olde bookes to and fro,
One little treatise I founde among the mo :
Because that in youth I did compile the same,
Egloges of youth I did call it by name.
And now lie too has ' ' made the same perfite ' ' —
Adding and bating where I perceyued neede.4
In Barclay's fourth Eclogue there is inserted a
stanzaic poem entitled, ' The description of the
Towre of vertue and honour, into the which the
noble Hawarde contended to enter by worthy actes
of chiualry.' This is a " wofull elegy " upon the
" laste departing of the noble lorde Hawarde,"
the English admiral who died in 1513. As its
title might suggest, it seems to owe something to
Le Temple d' honneur et de vertus (c. 1503), writ-
ten by Jean Lemaire de Beiges, " a 1' honneur de
feu Monseigneur de Bourbon." Thus, Barclay's
' ' castell or toure ' ' is set
High on a mountayne of highnes maruelous,
just as Lemaire's is seen " sur une moutaigne
haulte et spectable dont le sommet surpassoit de
beaucoup les nues errans en region aerine. " 5 It
is a " building olde "
Joyned and graued, surmounting mans brayne,
And all the walles within of fynest golde,
just as Lemaire's is "ung edifice sumptueux a
marveilles a maniere dung temple anticque en
ouvraige, mais riche oultre mesure en sa fagon."
And men attain unto it by "holy liuing," by
*It is interesting to notice that Professor ten Brink
found in these lines the explanation of a peculiar quality
of Barclay's Eclogues, namely, their combination of the
freshness of youth with the maturity of manhood: "So
erkliirt es sich, wenn diese Dichtungen in hoherem Grade
als andere Werke Barclay's jugendliche Frische mit
mannlicher Eeife in sich vcreinigen " ( Geschichle der Eng-
lischen Litteratur, vol. n, p. 455).
6 (Euvres de Jean Lemaire de Beiges, publ. by J. Stecher,
Louvain, 1891, vol. iv, p. 216.
10
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[_Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
' ' wisedome, " by " Justice and equitie, ' ' etc. — a
list of virtues which roughly corresponds to the
six images set at the portal of Lemaire's temple :
Religion, Prudence, Justice, Equite, Esp<§rance
and Raison.
In E. K.'s famous epistle to Gabriel Harvey
he suggests that Spenser wrote in pastoral form,
" mynding to furnish our tongue with this kinde,
wherein it faulteth." Just how he could ignore
Barclay's five Eclogues, is not very clear. They
must have been fairly well known at that day,
even if they were not very highly valued. Indeed,
it is possible that he had Barclay's 'Prologe'
definitely in mind when he wrote this particular
passage. The "example of the best and most
auncient Poetes, which devised this kind of wryt-
ing, being both so base for the matter, and homely
for the manner, at the first to trye theyr liabili-
ties," had already been cited by Barclay :
Therefore wise Poetes to sharpe and proue their wit,
In homely iestes wrote many a mery fit,
Before they durst be of audacitie
Tauenture thinges of weyght and grauitie.
The simile, "as young birdes, that be newly
crept out of the nest, by little first to prove theyr
tender wyngs, before they make a greater flyght, ' '
may be set beside another passage in the ' Prologe,'
The birde unused first flying from her nest
Dare not aduenture, and is not bolde nor prest
With winges abroade to flye as doth the olde, etc.
And it is surely significant that the first five pas-
toral poets in E. K.'s list — Theocritus, Virgile,
Mantuane, Petrarque and Boccace — are the five
poets mentioned by Barclay, in the same unusual
order. For the obscure lines,
What shall I speake of the father auncient,
Which in briefe language both playne and eloquent,
Betwene Alathea, Sewstis stoute and bolde
Hath made rehearsall of all thy storyes olde,
By true historyes us teaching to obiect
Against vayne fables of olde Gentiles sect,
must allude to Boccaccio. They suggest, to be
sure, the title and the professed purpose of his
Genealogia Deorum Gentilium, rather than his
sixteen Latin Eclogues.
WILFRED P. MUSTARD.
Johns Hopkins University.
STYLE AND HABIT : A NOTE.
A systematic and exhaustive study of literary
style from the psychological point of view yet
remains to be undertaken. Hitherto the studies
put forward in English from this point of view
have been inadequate, and, with the exception of
Spencer's erroneous essay, distressingly vague and
general. DeQuincey's essay was seminal, but only
seminal. His Organology and Mechanology, and
his passage on Publication, are too brief and gen-
eral to be called developed theses : DeQuincey
would not descend to Spencer's minuteness. On
the other hand, Lewes, though always promising
something detailed and definite, never really set-
tles down from his inspiring platitudes. Renton,
to mention but one more, has preferred the logical
point of view, and in his plethora of metaphysics
upon sensibility has parted company with the
strictly individual character of style. The French
attempts are almost equally disappointing. ' When
engaged in a search for those peculiarities and
nuances of mental make-up which distinguish the
infinite varieties of individuals, one from the other,
it is neither sufficient to divide mankind in gen-
eral, as De Gourmont does, into two great classes
lea visuels et les emotifs, nor satisfying to account
for any one individual, as Hennequin would, by
predicating him with an over-development of
the third frontal convolution. Such observations
are undoubtedly valuable, but they are woefully
fragmentary when put side by side with the mental
complexity which is present in any great writer
and which, by its multiple variations of tendency
and emphasis, constitutes the unique thing called
his individual character. To conduct a thorough-
going, psychological inquiry into literary style is
a task whose general magnitude is equalled only
by the minuteness of its particular details. Not
one or two principles of a general nature, not one
or two categories for the distribution of mankind
from China to Peru, but rather the application of
well-nigh all the observations of an entire two-
volumed psychology to each author contemplated,
and the careful notation of varying values and
tendencies in each case, is what is needed and
what has never been undertaken.
In essaying such a task the old confusion of
four points of view, which has been the cause and
January, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
11
bane of all the loose discussion of the subject at the
hands of those mysteriously blest with a ' ' literary
sense," would easily be avoided. These views,
the descriptive, aesthetic, pedagogical, and genetic
points of view, have seldom been rigorously segre-
gated or even properly distinguished in prose-style
theory from Aristotle to Spencer. The adoption
of the genetic or psychological view, including as
it does the conception of style as a normal aspect
of ordinary psychic functioning in words, and
therefore a common aspect of all writing, good or
bad, but varying in its details of tendency and
emphasis from individual to individual, excludes
alike the aesthetic conception of style as "good-
style," the descriptive definition based upon the
reader's general and vague "sense" of an au-
thor's style, and the pedagogical precept that
style is a detachable ornament or a mere thing
of verbal and syntactical mechanism which may
be learned by clever address to the rules of
rhetoric. The genetic view recognizes with pri-
mary emphasis that thought and feeling processes,
and verbal expression, and the psychological in-
ter-relations of these, furnish the materials for
definite categorical investigation. ^Esthetic ap-
preciation and pedagogical fervor must not inter-
fere in a purely genetic inquiry.
The two primary facts mentioned above, that
style is an aspect of all writing, except strict
compilation, and that it is something that varies
as we pass from individual to individual, suggest
the method to be adopted in a psychological
inquiry into the nature of literary style. The
first fact embraces the material of the inquiry
(mind expressed in written words). And of
this material three aspects must be considered :
the nature and kinds of thought (including
emotions and feelings), the relations of thought
to words, and, finally, the relations of words
to each other, grammatically and syntactically
considered. The field indicated is of course
the whole field of general psychology plus the
special fields of the psychology of written ex-
pression and the science of grammar and syn-
tax. But the work in these fields has, fortu-
nately, been already done, for the most part by
specialists within each territory. Of their rich
results the methodical student of style may now
avail himself. The least developed field is that
of the psychology of the written word as distin-
guished from the spoken word. Of course the
old and much debated question of thought with
words and thought without words will necessarily
pop up and prove something of a bogey ; but
now-a-days there is much new light upon this
matter ; and, besides, for the actual production of
written words, which involves a concurrent stream
of thought and words, the question is hardly of
deterrent importance. On the other hand, far
more attention than ever before must be paid to
the influence of the so-called sub-conscious factors
which play a prime part in the production of what
is termed ' ' inspired writing. ' ' Here, too, much
material and observation have been collected, es-
pecially of late, by trained specialists.
The second primary fact (style is a variant
which varies with the individual) suggests the
next step in method. It is obvious that in psy-
chology, as in any organic science, the character
of Individuality is distinguished by the variations
of the particular subject within a common generic
type. Now the multiplicity of such variations in
the psychologic individual is as highly as it is
intangibly increased over the variations in the ana-
tomical individual ; and if these variations of men-
tal and emotional economy always occurred in an
unique and sporadic fashion, their very multiplicity
and ephemeral nature would produce a confusion of
successive, aberrant individualities instead of that
fairly stable thing which we call the character of
the individual. In a word, variation alone will
produce individuality within a species, but varia-
tion alone will not produce what in the human
species we call individuality of character. The
definiteness of this latter appearance demands a
corresponding definiteness or regularity in indi-
vidual variations. Instead of sporadic cases, the
variations must assume a repetitive tendency. A
tendency to act consistently and repeatedly in
certain ways, which are at more or less variance
with the ways of other people, is what constitutes
individuality of character.
It is necessary, therefore, when once the descrip-
tion of thought relations and thought-word rela-
tions in general is as far as possible complete, to
observe what funding and coordination of par-
ticular variations any particular author's case
presents, — what variations by their repetition
12
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
evince stable tendencies. In the case of Shelley's
prose, for instance, the lyrical progression of his
thought by imaginative rather than ratiocinative
association of ideas and images is a trick so often
repeated that it becomes at once a peculiarity and
a stable peculiarity, i.e., a stable variation. Thus
that variation of individuality of character to which
common experience gives an aphoristic recognition,
but which is rather recognized than definitely con-
ceived, may be somewhat exactly analyzed and
accounted for. To be sure, the analysis will
involve a statement of variation in degree and
emphasis from common kinds of mental action
even more often than a statement of variation in
quality, but the very difficulty of such statements
goes a long way to explain rationally the pre-
vailing vagueness of appreciations of literary
characters. Moreover, it may be noted in pass-
ing, that perhaps written speech alone offers that
quality of permanency which is necessary to the
object of a minute psychological analysis into
character ; and, as Renton well observes, a psy-
chological inquiry into style may throw much
new light upon psychology itself. That the
writing of an author shows him only in certain
moods and delineates his character at its best
rather than in its entirety, is a contingency which,
while it rather fortunately eliminates for us com-
paratively unessential traits, may yet be mini-
mized, if that is thought desirable, in cases where
the more pretentious literary remains of an author
are supplemented by his familiar, undress expres-
sion in diaries or letters.
To such regular variations of thought-feeling
and thought-word relations, which in their syn-
thetic complexity present the author's character
through the somewhat deflecting media of words,
may be applied the term style. Variations which
are not coordinated by repetition cannot be said
to constitute a style. In this sense, and in this
sense only, a writer may be said to have no style ;
but that is practically equivalent to saying that all
writing has style, since ignorance most of all has
its regularity of stupidity. Occasionally the spo-
radic variation is so exaggerated as to obtrude
itself strongly upon the attention, — as in the case
of a single poetic figure in a text-book in mathe-
matics. But that sporadic variation is to be noted
as such : it would not justify one in speaking of
the poetic style of the book. Where the variation
is sufficient in degree or kind to be termed patho-
logical, style becomes striking in its bizarre and
extravagant effects — those effects which, usually
apprehended most easily, are most definitely de-
scribed. But for those other, usual, and more
subtle traits of individual style which, though
perceiving, we despair of describing save in the
vaguest of figures, the regular variations within
the limits of the normal may be taken as the
cause.
But these regular variations of thought and
thought-word relations, these more or less stable
tendencies coordinated by repetition, present to
the psychologist a law of functioning which has
already been deeply studied in other than literary
phenomena ; and the present literary problem
should be studied in the light of what has already
been determined from the study of the same char-
acter of functioning in other and similar contents.
This law of function is called Habit. Literary
style therefore should be investigated as a problem
in the psychology of habit, and upon it should be
brought to bear all those discovered data and
principles which are now included by psychologists
under the category of habit. The observations of
James, Tarde, Baldwin, and Jastrow would yield
rich results if properly applied. The circular-
reaction theory and the laws of imitation and
invention, for instance, would go a long way to
supply the discipline of style and rhetoric with
that philosophical basis which the methodical
mind of Spencer desired. The formation of indi-
vidual habits by direct and original adaptation to
environment or by indirect and imitative adapta-
tion, by chance variation or enforced instruction ;
the refractive aspect of imitation ; the growth of
types of association ; the imitative susceptibility
and the inventive inclination, — these are only a
very few of the principles which would find a rich
illustration in the facts and functions of style.
The concrete and picturesque elements of style, or
its rhythmic effects, whether these belonged to an
Isaiah or to a Sir Thomas Browne, to an Inca of
Peru or to a Jeremy Taylor ; the style of a retired
dreamer like Amiel, or of an empire-dreamer like
Sir Walter Raleigh ; the style of one who talks
and writes rather for effect than for matter ; the
style which is the product of expression concurrent
January, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
13
with thought, as compared with that which belongs
to the expression of a thesis already carefully elab-
orated into logical proportions ; the style of the
verbalist, or of the abstractionist ; or of the emo-
tionalist ; of the theologian, or the mystic, or the
reformer ; of the spectator, or of the participator ;
the grand style, the estilo culto, the metaphysical
style, the precious style,— these are only a very
few of the aspects of style which would receive
their proper explanation and coordination. More-
over, the social aspects of habit, if sought in lit-
erary style, would afford to the latter an adequate
theory of what is more vaguely designated as the
style of a literary period or epoch, or of a race, and
would assign to Taine's milieu its proper place in
the economy of style. The ' ' isms ' ' of style would
be explained — Euphuism, Marinism, Gongorism,
Asianism, Atticism, Rhetoricism. Individual habit
as subjected to the requirements of an external
authority, with its temporized acquiescence or
flaring revolt — the set of problems so ably dis-
cussed by Bagehot and Royce and Tarde — would
find its literary homologue in the syntactical and
metrical aspects of style and in the impositions of
the various literary types. Finally, certain gen-
eral habits of thinking underlying all these varia-
tions would be distinguished as such ; and, conse-
quently, instead of speaking of a narrative or
expository style, it would be realized that here
there is a difference, which must be expressed by
speaking of the narrative manner, or expository
manner. Style is individual habit within the
general manner of a type or kind.
When once it becomes clearly understood that
style is a case of habit, the difficulties of the sub-
ject begin to clear. Such expressions as "Le
style est de 1'homme me'me, " or style is the
"physiognomy of the mind," take their place as
figurative statements of the matter of habit. The
chief characteristics of the conception — its vague-
ness and " indefinableness " — are accounted for
by the complexity of subjective habits. The old
quarrel as to the propriety of extending the word
style to all writing or to belles lettres alone, is system-
atically solved. The demand of the literary stu-
dent for a definite program of work is met so far
as the science of mental habit can be brought
within observation and definition, and the student
understands forthwith in what boundaries his sub-
ject lies, and how far he can treat it methodically
— how far science may go, and where appreciation
must begin. Nor, to adopt the pedagogical view
for a moment, will anyone who has taught literary
composition fail to recognize that in the definition
of style as habit lies the description, as well as the
secret, of his labor with young, untutored minds
whose habits have been ignorantly and uncon-
sciously formed.
It would not be venial, even in a mere note
such as this, to neglect the warning that must
accompany any such minute task as the one here
recommended. The task, to be sure, would
amount to nothing so much as to restating all
our loose criticism of the present on a methodical
and as near as might be scientific basis — the basis
in psychology long since recommended and prophe-
sied by DeQuincey. The task is not so much revo-
lutionary as supplementary and definitive. But
dryly and unimaginatively followed, without the
proper generalization, the analysis contemplated
would inevitably degenerate into a labor as useless
as that of the Rhetores Greed themselves ; and
for the old mechanical discipline, another, quite
as defunct, would be substituted. The results of
the analyses of style-habits can find their justi-
fication only in a wider definition of spiritual
meaning and a completer, more authentic con-
ception of the inter-relations of particular char-
acters in the social organism.
BENJAMIN P. KURTZ.
University of California.
THE SINGULAR FATE OF A PASSAGE
IN FREYTAG'S DIE JOURNALISTEN.
Responding to the editor's request, I submit the
following statements as supplementary to my pre-
vious article, "A Curious Mistake in Freytag's
Die Jottrnalisten," published in the Modern Lan-
guage Notes, vol. xxiu, pp. 180-1, June, 1908.
Some half-dozen annotated editions of Die
Journaliaten, as we have seen, give the reading
' Zeitung,' instead of the suggested version ' Zeit,'
in the passage previously indicated. In view of
the additional evidence now at hand, it seems
14
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
more than probable that in each case the form
'Zeitung,' as I already intimated in my former
discussion, is indeed directly traceable to some of
the older German editions. If this be actually
the case, as I hope to show with such new facts as
I can produce at this writing, then, I suppose, we
shall be justified in saying that the responsibility
for this particular reading ' Zeitung, ' does not rest
primarily with our American editors.
Before proceeding to a consideration of the new
available data, it will perhaps be interesting to
note that, besides the annotated editions with the
impugned reading 'Zeitung,' I have also found
several others with the version ' Zeit. ' There does
not, however, seem to be any sufficient reason, at
this time, for assuming that this difference is due
to an editorial alteration of 'Zeitung' to 'Zeit.'
Rather, I should say, is this reading ' Zeit ' also
to be traced back to German sources. I shall
now, with a few words, attempt to reconcile these
seemingly contradictory statements.
The Hirzel editions of Frey tag's works which
were published previous to 1873 have the reading
'Zeit.' Strangely enough, however, the editions
which appeared between 1873 and 1889 show the
version ' Zeitung ' instead of ' Zeit. ' The reason
for this most singular change does not now appear,
and even the author's publisher is at a logs how
to account for it. Personally, I cannot conceive
Freytag to have been responsible for the change.
Indeed, soon after the publication, in 1886, of
the first edition of the Gesammelte Werke, Frey-
tag seems to have ordered the original version
' Zeit ' to be restored. At this same time a sen-
tence which originally stood directly after ' Cha-
rakter, ' was dropped from the text. For the sake
of orientation on this point, I refer the reader to
my previous article. The discarded sentence
referred to reads as follows : ' Sie sind zwar jetzt
ein armer Teufel, aber es wird Ihnen noch besser
gehen in der Welt. ' As we should expect from
what we have noted thus far, we find that the
second edition of Freytag' s Gesammelte Werke, as
well as the later editions of his Dramatische Werlce,
and also the two editions of Die Journalisten issued
since 1890, have, all of them, the version 'Zeit.'
The seventh edition of Die Journalisten, S. Hirzel,
Leipzig, 1882, still shows the reading ' Zeitung.'
From these facts it is apparent that the reading
'Zeit' — for which I previously expressed my
preference — is the one which will finally have to
stand as authoritative. The detailed statements
regarding the curious fate of the passage in ques-
tion are based on information kindly submitted
by Frey tag's publisher, S. Hirzel, of Leipzig.
The facts were communicated to me by Dr. J.
Ernst Wiilfing, of Bonn (Germany).
As stated in my first article, I am seriously
handicapped here as far as the older editions of
the play are concerned. Nevertheless, I shall
take this opportunity to call attention to still
another textual variation in the same passage.
From the editions at my disposal, I am able to
state that there are at least three distinct versions
of the passage as a whole. Besides the points of
difference already noted, I find that one of the
variant versions has before the negative 'nicht'
the intensifying adverb 'gar,' while the other
two readings lack this augmentative particle.
Without commenting further upon these inter-
esting variations, I shall now simply enumerate
the three versions in full. For the sake of the
reader's convenience, it may be advisable to
italicize the points of difference. The three com-
plete readings before me are, accordingly, as
follows :
(a) Ihnen kann's in unserer Zeit gar nicht
fehlen.
(6) Ihnen kann's in unserer Zeitung nicht
fehlen.
(c) Ihnen kann's in unserer Zeit nicht fehlen.
As we should, indeed, have expected, the sim-
ple, straightforward, and critically suggestive
version, 'Ihnen kann's in unserer Zeit nicht
fehlen,' seems to have received the author's
final sanction.
C. H. IBEBSHOFF.
Cornell University.
CHAUCER'S ENVOY TO BUKTON.
On the hazard of drawing inferences about
Chaucer's married life from so jocose a poem as
the address To Buldon, we may learn something
from Eustache Deschamps. That he satirized
January, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
15
marriage is notorious. We have not only his
long Miroir du Mariage, but various lyrics of
similar tenor. In No. 271 (n, 116), which has
a good deal of resemblance to Chaucer's poem,
Deschamps praises the freedom of the celibate : —
Les serfs jadis achaterent franchise
Pour estre frans et pour vivre franchis,
Car li horns serfs est en autrui servise
Comme suhgiez en servitute chis ;
Mais quant frans est, il est moult enrichis
Et puet partout aler ou il lui plaist,
Mais ce ne puet faire uns horns asservis,
Pour ce est li horns eureus qui frans se paist.
Done est bien foulz et fole qui est chise
En serf lien d' estre femme et maris, etc.
In No. 340 (in, 54), he calls the man who
marries a second time a fool : —
Un chien, tin chat, un lievre et un conin,
Un esprevier, un oisel de riviere,
Et les poissons refusent a 1'engin ;
Quant prins y sont en aucune maniere,
S'ilz eschapent, ilz se traient arriere,
D'y rembatre n'ont nulle fois envie ;
Toudis pensent a leur prinse premiere ;
Dont est cilz fouls qui deux fois se marie.
Here, too, we may compare the address to Bukton.
No. 823 (iv, 343) is similar :—
Horns hors du senz, plains de forconnerie,
Tristes, dolens, chetifs et malostrus,
Est li meschans qui deux foiz se marie ;
Puisqu'il s'i est une foiz embatus,
Du premier cop il doit estre tenus
Pour ygnorant, mes qu'il y entre arriere,
Des maleureux doit porter la banniere.
In No. 929 (v, 138) Deschamps dissuades a
friend from wedlock. Compare also Nos. 931 (v,
140), 976 (v, 216), 977 (v, 217). In the last-
mentioned balade, the speaker says that he has
been a captive in Syria, and implies that mar-
riage is a worse bondage than slavery among the
Saracens : —
J'ay demour£ entre les Sarrasins,
Esclave est<S en pays de Surie.
Compare Bukton, vv. 22-24 : —
Experience shal thee teche, so may happe,
That thee were lever to be take in Fryse
Than eft to falle of wedding in the trappe.
On the usual principles of interpretation —
which tend to ignore the obvious probability of
convention or of the dramatic touch — such utter-
ances would be enough to show that Deschamps
was unhappy in his married life. Yet in another
balade — advice of a father to his daughter who
has just become a wife — he exhorts the girl to
copy the virtues of her dead mother : —
Fille, au depart et a vo bien ale'e,
Qui par mari estes de moy sevre'e,
Vueilliez en bien a vo mere retraire
Tant que de vous, qui bien vous ay amfe,
Ne soit nul jour male chancon chante'e :
Soiez humble, courtoise et debonnaire.1
Chaucer's Envoy to Bukton may or may not be
in good taste, but we are certainly not justified —
in view of what we have seen in the case of
Deschamps — in allowing it any autobiographical
significance. It seems to have been not uncom-
mon to send a jocose message, in dispraise of wed-
lock, to a friend who had either just married or
was on the point of taking such a step. Probably
such utterances were no more seriously meant than
the jests which are passed upon an intending bride-
groom by his intimates at pre-nuptial "stag din-
ners " now-a-days.s Deschamps was certainly
not offended when his friend Simon Ployart
favored him with a missive of this kind : —
He ! Eustace, dire pues desorme"s :
"Adieu bon temps !" car tu 1'as tout perdu ;
Soies. certain, plus n'en auras James,
N'encor ne scez pas qui est advenu ;
Car jusques cy 1'en t'a tousjours tenu
Bon compaignon, et tu seras clamez
Chetifs, dolens, es tu bien mariez ? 3
Our mediaeval ancestors were willing to go
rather far for the sake of a joke. Witness the
apparent cynicism (peculiarly revolting to us) of
one of Deschamps' s complaints about the hard-
ship of having to give his daughter a dot.* Yet
there is every reason to believe that this was the
same daughter whom he addresses so tenderly
in the balade of good advice already referred to.
G. L. KlTTEEDGE.
Harvard University.
'No. 1151 (vi, 84). See the sensible remarks of
Hoepffner, Eustache Deschamps, Leben und Werke, 1904,
pp. 53-54.
2 Compare the custom of sending satirical or so-called
"comic" valentines, which is of considerable standing —
so far as age is concerned— though now happily falling
into desuetude.
3 (Euvres de Deschamps, IV, 351. In his reply (No.
830, IV, 352), Deschamps addresses Ployart as " treschier
et bon ami."
4 No. 1150 (vi, 81); cf. No. 1149 (vi, 79).
16
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
'[Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
DARES AND DICTYS.
Dares and Dlctys, An Introduction to the Study of
Medieval Versions of the Story of Troy. By
NATHANIEL EDWARD GRIFFIN. Baltimore :
J. H. Furst Company.
Dr. Griffin, in his dissertation on Dictys and
Dares, has had a wide field of literature to cover,
with the mass of erudition that has been expended
on the intricate and changing problems of the sub-
ject he has chosen. For the history of the me-
dieval Troy legend, the works of Dunger and Joly
were not more important than the publications in
1892 of Noack and Patzig who, by a new study of
the Troy matter in the Byzantine chroniclers,
showed the existence of a longer and more elabo-
rated text of Dictys, than that represented in the
Latin Ephemeris. They were the starting point
for a number of critical studies in the long-neg-
lected field of Byzantine writers, and the results
of these studies are for the first time summed up
and adjusted in a concise and judicious manner
by Dr. Griffin. The general results of all these
studies have been fully justified by the publication
of the fragments of the Greek Dictys, discovered
in the Tebtunis papyri ; but these few fragments
show that certain details in the reconstruction of
the Greek text, can only be cited as instances of
the fallibility of textual critics. Thus the well-
warranted conjecture, based upon the date of the
papyrus — the early part of the third century —
that the Greek Dictys was written at least prior
to 200 A. D.,1 puts out of court at once the as-
sumption (8, n. 3, 110, 119) that the Prologus,
if written by the author of the Greek Dictys, was
indebted to the Life of Apollonius of Tyaua of
Philostratos, for the fiction of the earthquake in
Crete, even if the latter work can be attributed to
a date as early as 217.s Further, the detailed
description of the death of Achilles, through his
love for Polyxena, denoted in the Dictys frag-
ment,3 shows the absurdity of finding the source
of the account in the Latin version in the slight
1 Tebtunis Papyri, ed. Grenfell, Hunt, & Goodspeed, II
(1907), 10.
' K. Miinseher, Philologus, Suppl. x, 489, 557.
3 Tebt. Pap., n, 12-14
allusions in the 'HpcoiVos of the younger Philos-
tratus, who from the posterior date of his work
(213-219)4 might well have been the borrower in
this as in other episodes.5
In the introductory chapter of seventeen pages,
Dr. Griffin has summed up the contents of Dictys
and Dares, and shown their prevalence and use in
medieval literature, and their continued authority
as historians and stylists in the learned world down
to the eighteenth century. This summary of the
whole problem, in which the brief outline of the
text is fully substantiated by extensive notes, only
calls for a few supplementary remarks, in way of
criticism. Collilieux's suggestion (1, n. 3) that
the very name of Dictys, and the fiction of the
finding of the Ephemeris were devices borrowed
from Alexander Monachos's account of the dis-
covery of the body of St. Barnabas, should have
only been mentioned to state that the stories are so
different, that the account of Alexander,6 which
was written fifty years (525)7 after the date of
the alleged discovery, of which, naturally, there
is no record in contemporary chroniclers,8 could
4 Munscher, /. c.,498, 508, 557. Griffin, 110, follows
Dunger, Didys Septimius, 44-6, in not correctly distin-
guishing the two writers of the same name.
5Cf. Munscher, I. c., 501, n. 72. The emphasis that
Philostratus lays on the campaign in Mysia, and the story
of Telephus (Munscher, /. c., 505 ff., 5373.), does not
make his account as detailed in some particulars as that
in the Latin translation. Cf. Dictys (n, 1-7); where
(n, 14) the reference to Eurypylus, the son of Telephus,
is found in the Greek Dictys ( Tebt. Pap., n, 15, 11. 81 ff.).
Dunger also thinks that Philostratus is the earliest author-
ity for the murder of Achilles in the temple of Apollo (I. c.,
45) ; with the discovery of the Greek Dictys one can ask
whether it is the source of the allusion in the pseudo-
Justinian Apology, which is dated by Harnack, 180-240,
to Achilles who, " TO ffe&revKTa dforXa cbroSwci/iei'os,
A?r6XXwpos vi)(f " (Harnack, Sitzungb. der Bed. Ak., 1896,
634, 11. 16-18).
6 Acta Sanctorum, 3d. ed., Junii II, 4443.; cp. Lipsius,
Die apolcryphen Apostelges., n, 2 (1887), 195, 301.
'Krumbacher, Ges. d. byz. Lit., 2d. ed., 164.
8Malalas, 385; Theophanes, I, 184-5 (which repre-
sents the unabridged text of Malalas, cp. Gleye, Byz.
Zeit., IV, 157, v, 433 ; Brooks, Eng. Hist. Rev., vn, 292,
299) . The mention of the Inventio is first found in Theo-
dorus Lector, n, 1 (A. D. 530 ; Krumbacher, I. c., 291) ;
then in the Chron. of Georgios Monachos, ed. de Boor,
618, 21 (842, Krumbacher, 352) ; and in Kedrenos, I,
618 (1100, Krumbacher, 36).
January, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
17
not have even been suggested by the earlier
account of Dictys.
As a criterion on the date of both the Greek
original and the Latin translation (3, n. 2), no
one 9 has made use of the statements in the Pro-
logus telling how Nero ' ' Annales vero nomine
Dictys inscriptos in Greecam bibliothecam re-
cepit " and of Malalas' " K<M lv rrj faj/uxria
fiifSkioOrJKr! airoTidrjvai avra" (p. 250, 9). The
correctness of the phrase "Grsecam bibliothecam"
is vouched for by the statement of Suetonius 10
that Augustus added in the temple of Apollo
' ' porticus cum bibliotheca Latina Grascaque, ' '
and the inscription in regard to an attendant " ab
bybliothece Grseca." " This library, divided into
two sections, was founded in 28 A. D., escaped
the Neronian fire, and was burned to the ground
in 363. " Does the more general term "Public
Library " IS of Malalas represent the Greek Dic-
tys, and is the more specific statement due to the
translator, who in that case may have lived before
the destruction of the library by fire ?
The Historia Daretis Frigii, interpolated in
three manuscripts of the chronicle attributed to
Fredegarius, can not be called ' ' two long excerpts
from Dares" (5, n. 4), if it is something other
than a mere abridgment of the Historia.1* The
fashion of contrasting the veracity of Dares and
Dictys with the mendacity of Homer was not
confined to medieval writers (11, n. 1) ; the first
French trail slator of the Iliad, JeanSanson (1529-
1530), invokes their authority as well as that of
Guido delle Coloune, to correct the errors of
Homer,15 after Juan de Mena (1410-1456) had
considered it necessary to defend him from the
attacks of Guido ; 16 and the Marquis de Santil-
lana (1442) pleaded for a Spanish translation of
parts of the Iliad, even if the works of Dares
9 Cf. Korting, Dares and Dictys, 1874, p. 7.
10 Aug. 29. Cf. M. Ihra, Centmlblatt /. Bibliotheksuesen,
x, 516. "OIL. vi, 5188. Cf. Dim, /. c., 525-6, 517.
12Ihm, I. c., 519.
13 Cf. Ovid's reference to Rome's three public libraries
of which that of Apollo was one ; esp. vv. 79-80, "in-
terea, quoniam static mihi publica clausa est, private
liceat delituisse loco," Trial, in, 1, 60 ff. Cf. Ihm, I. c.,
518; Hirsclifeld, Untersuchungen auf dem Gebiete der rom-
ischen Verwaltungsgesch. , 187, n. 2, 189,^n. 5.
UG. Paris, Romania, in, 129 ff.
I5Constans,/ft's(. de la langue et de la litt. franc., I, i, 217.
lc Morel-Fatio, Romania, xxv, 113.
and Dictys were available." The sources of the
eleventh Oration of Dio Chrysostomos have been
examined in more detail than by Chassang
(11, n. 2).18
Rohde19 and Norden20 have collected many
instances of finding manuscripts in the tombs
of the writers, which have not been noted
by Dr. Griffin and his authority Joly (14, n. 1),
and in not a single one is the discovery due to an
earthquake, as was the case with the Ephemeris,
according to the Prologus, a notion much more
natural in Dr. Griffin's opinion, "than that the
tomb of the author merely collapsed through old
age" (119).
The fiction of attributing to pretended partici-
pants in the Trojan war the authorship of pre-
Homeric histories (15, n. 1), finds its counterpart
in the favorite autobiographic setting of early
Christian apocryphal literature,21 and the later
literary device of hagiographical writers of speak-
ing in the name of a disciple of a saint in order
to give more weight to their accounts.22 The
statement that Perizonius's dissertation of 1782
"removed for all time the last vestiges of this
peculiar veneration " for the authority of Dictys
and Dares (17), shows too optimistic a belief in
the kinetic force of truth. Various eighteenth
century editions of the two authors attest a linger-
ing popularity and regard, and it must be
remembered that Jebb in his study on Bentley
pointed out the retarded general acceptance of the
results of the destructive criticisms of the Epintles
of Phalaris, by a scholar incomparably greater
than Perizonius.
17 Morel-Fatio, I. c., 121, 120; Schiff, La bibliolteque du
marquis de Santillane, 1 ff. Although Santillana writes as if
he were acquainted with independent translations of Dares
and Dictys, probably he only knew them through the Span-
ish translation of Guide's work by Lopez de Ayala(cf.
Mussafia, Sitzungsber. der Wiener Akad. Phil. Hist. Klasse,
LXIX, 49 ff.).
18 W. Montgomery, Studies in Honor of B. L. Gilder-
sleeve, 405 £f. 19E. Rohde, Der griechische Roman, 292-3, n.
mJahrb.f. Philol. Suppl, xvm, 327-8. Birt has noted
the custom of poets, on dying, to bring their own works to
Persephone ( " Persephonae libellos ferre " Propert., n,
13, 26) ; and its similarity to the story in Dictys (Rh.
Mus., u, 408 ; Die Suchrolle im Kunst, 83).
21 Von Dobschiitz, Deutsche Rundschau, CXL, 89, 87 ff.
22 Delehaye, Rev. des questions historiques, LXXIV. Cf. the
practise of the Patristic writers calling early Christian
writers, Apostolic, a title to which they had no claim ;
Harnack, Gesch. der allchrist. Lit., I, xxxvii-viii.
18
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
The second section of the origin of Dictys,
occupying more than a hundred pages (17-120),
is a clear well-digested analysis of very nearly
the complete literature of the subject. Dr. Grif-
fin has established his thesis beyond question, and
his work only calls for criticism on a few points.
There has been at least one voice of dissent
besides that of Greif (23, n. ), in the general
acceptance of the thesis Dr. Griffin has made his
own. Meister in his review of Greif 'a latest
contribution in defense of the original Latin
authorship of the Ephemeris, accepted Greif 's
conclusions, and interpreted to their advantage
obscure passages in the Latin text, in which his
opponents have found confirmatory evidence for
their own side of the case.23 The allusion to
Priam's embassy to King David found in one of
the fragments of John of Antioch must be due
not to the author of the excerpt, as suggested by
Dr. Griffin (27, n. 2), but to John himself, from
whom Manasses borrowed the episode to pass it
on to Hermoniakos ;2t and the tradition found a
further development in medieval European litera-
ture.25
It seems very doubtful whether the sole au-
thority of the eleventh century Arethas, who
states that Dictys wrote his work on brazen
tablets, " %a\Kois irivo£i," is reason enough to
reject (32) the repeated statements of the Ephe-
meris that the material used was the product of a
linden tree ; " libros ex philyra " (1, 10), "in
tilias" (2, 8; cf. 11, 18). In all probability
the original Greek Dictys did not mention tablets,
even if the statement of Arethas is confirmed
by Malalas's excerptor, Isaak Porphyrogenitus,
"irivaKt." (85, I).26 The purpose of the forger
was to emphasize the antiquity of his supposed
23 Berliner philol. Wochenschrift, 1900, 1295-6. The
reading " ev Ziylw" of the Greek Dictys [I. c., 1. 91 ; cf.
95, and 55 n,) demolishes the arguments of both sides,
proving on one hand that the "<nyH" of Malalas is a
corruption (Griffin, 79 n. ) ; and on the other, that it was
not due to a misunderstanding of the latin " in Sigeo."
24 Krumbacher, Gcsch. der byzant. Lit. , 846, n. 2.
25 R. Heinzel, Sitzungsber. der Wiener Akad. Phil.
K/asse, 126, I, 13, 61; W. Foerster, Mom. Forsch., xxn,
2, 32 ft., 46 ; cf. Byz. Zeit. in, 520 ; IV, 530.
26 On the use of the singular, cf. Iliad, VI, 168, and the
interpretations of Dziatzko, Untersuehungen uber ausge-
wdhlte Kapitel des antiken Buchwesens, 12 ; Birt, Centralbl.
f. Bibliotheksw., xvu, 149.
original, which was proven for him by the use of
the primitive alphabet, "litteris Punicis " (1, 3 ;
3, 1-2 ; 12, 12 ; 101 ; 33), "litterarum Phoe-
nicum" (2, 3), and of an old-fashioned writing
material. For the same reason it is stated in an
Egyptian inscription in the temple of Dendara
that what is clearly an apocryphal sketch of a
building was written in ancient script on parch-
ment— which antedated the use of papyrus in
Egypt27 — and the Cretans, in disputing the claims
of the Phoenicians as the inventors of the alphabet,
alleged that the invention was Cretan, where they
were first written on palm-leaves, " cv <t>oiviK<ov
7T£T<oXow." The testimony of Galen in regard
to manuscripts of Hippocrates preserved " tv Tats
4>.AV«,"29 ulPian's (d- 228) "volumina" in
"philyra aut in tilia," 30 the "philuram calcu-
latoriam ' ' l and ' ' ex tilia " '2 of inscriptions ;
(108), all attest the use of the bast of linden
wood as a writing material, somewhat contem-
poraneous with the dates both of the Greek Dic-
tys and the Latin translation. In the first part
of the fifth century the ' ' libri in philyne cortice
subnotati " were spoken of as "rare" by Mar-
tianus Capella ;53 Photius, the teacher of Arethas,
had only the very indefinite information that the
linden tree had bast very similar to the papyrus
27 R. Pietschmann, Sammlung bibliothekswiss. s'rbeiten,
Heft vnr, 112.
28 Suidas, s. v. (pomicfiwv ypdft.iJ.aTa ; cf. R. Garnett,
Library, N. S. IV, 225 ; R. M. Burrows, The Discoveries
in Crete, 64-65.
29 Med. gr., ed. Kuhn, xvin, 2, p. 630 ; adopting read-
ing suggested by Birt, Die Buchrolle in der Kunst, 21, n. 1 ;
cf. Dziatzko, I. c., 44, n. 4.
30 Dig., 32, 52. 1 ; adopting Dziatzko' s suggestion that
the " aut " before " philyra " be dropped ( I. c., 77, n. 3 ),
avoiding thus the difficulty of making a distinction be-
tween "philyra" and "tilia," noticed by Marquardt,
Das Privatleben der Homer,1 800, n. 2.
31 CIL., VI, 2, 10229 ; cf. Cagnat, Corns d'Epigraphie
latine, 1889, 251, 292. On the structure of linden-bast as
writing material, cf. Wiesner, Sitiungsb. der Wiener Akad.
Phil. Hiit. Klaxse, 126, vin, 11, who has shown that cer-
tain manuscripts have been wrongly considered to be of
linden bast paper (1 ff.). At the same time nothing war-
rants Landwehr's statement that the phrase of L'lpian is
"eine juristische Tiifftelei, die nur ja nicht irgend eine
Moglichkeit ausser acht lassen will"; ALL., VI, 225, a
too skeptical point of view adopted by W. Schubart, Das
Buch bei den Or. u. Rom., 2-3.
32 CIL, n, 4125.
83 2, 136 (p. 39).
January, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
19
of a book-roll.34 On the other hand, the ancient
use of wooden tablets, for one purpose or another,
was known to almost the present day,35 and was
unquestionably prevalent in the tenth century and
known to Arethas and Isaak.36
Again there is a possibility that the idea of
bronze tablets was suggested to Arethas by the
custom of engraving laws on bronze tablets,37 but
the only literary work,38 noted as being engraved
on metal, was Hesiod's Works and Days, which
was shown to Pausanias, engraven on lead, at
Hippocrene.39 In fact it may be almost accepted
as a canon of criticism in the study of literary
forgeries, that the more durable — and generally
the more costly — the material on which the origi-
nal is said to be found, the more recent the forgery.
In the Egyptian romance of Setna, written in the
reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 B. c.),
the secrets of Thoth-Hermes are found writ-
ten on a papyrus roll ; ** the Pythagorean books
said to have been found in the tomb of Numa in
150 B. c. were written on the same material," the
geographical romance of Antonius Diogenes (c.
100 A. D. ) on cypress tablets,42 while the tablet,
34 Lexicon, ed. Porson, ir, 649: " <t>i\vpa. <pvT&i> e'xo''
4>\oAv flv{l\ov irairvptf d/imov" ; with corrections suggested
by Dziatzko, /. c., 33, n. 2.
35Marquardt, 1. c.; Dziatzko, I.e., 16 ff. ; Wattenbach,
Schriflwesen im Mittelalter3, 91 ft.
36 Jebb, Note to Sopb. Trachnue, 683.
37 Hiibner, Rom. Epigrnphie, in I. Miiller, Handb. der
klas.i. Alterth., I2, 631.
38 The tablets of thuia, on which were written the Gos-
pel of St. Matthew found with the body of St. Barnabas
(Ada SS. Junii, n, 446 D) was not chosen by its author on
account of its durability and preciousness (cf. Theophr.
H. P., 5. 3, 7; Plin., H. N., xrn, 30 ; Apocal., xvm,
20); but because it was miraculously saved from the
funeral fire, like the body of the saint (I. c., 440 B); in an
earlier account the Gospel, of which the material is not
mentioned, is buried with the few remains of the body
left by the fire (429 ; cf. 417).
39 ix, 31, 4. Cf. Dziatzko, in Pauly-Wissowa, Reed-En,
cyclopddie, II, 564-565.
40 W. M. Flinders Petrie, Egyptian Fairy Tales, n, 111
(cf. 116 "steles"), 131. On date, cf. /. e., 141 ; Brugsch
Bey, Rev. archeol., 1867, n, 162 ; Revillout, I. c., 1879, n,
18. Livy, XL, 29 ; Pliny, H. N., xm, 84 ; cf. Dziatzko,
Unters., 93. On modern discoveries of papyri, in Roman
tombs, Birt, Buchrolle, 7, n. 2.
41 E. Rohde, Der griechische Roman, 277.
" Erotici scriptores Grosci, ed. Hercher, I, 237-239.
reported by Plutarch to have been found in a
tomb in the time of Agesilaus, was of bronze ; 4S
Lucian has his fun with bronze tablets, which
were buried, and then dug up by the roguish hero
of his Po-ewSo//.avTts ; " Pausanias relates in the
second century the revelation in 350 B. c. of a
zinc tablet, containing the mysteries of the greater
gods ; K the original of the Byzantine Kvpai/ioS/s
attributed to Hermes, was written on an iron
slab ; ** an angel presents silver tablets containing
prophecies to the Carmelite Cyril (1175) ;" a late
medieval work, attributed to Hermes owed its title
"Tabula smaragdina" to the tablet of emerald
on which it was engraved ; 48 and finally the
Mormon bible was dug up by Joseph Smith,
43 De genio Socr., p. 577 E. Cf. also his account of a
collection of secrets written on parchment, dug up at
Cartilage ; Defac. in orb. lun., 26, p. 942 C.
"C. 10.
45 IV, 26, 6. On its source in the Me<rcri)waici£ of Rhia-
nus (B. c. 200), cf. Susemihl, Geschichle der griech. Lilt-
in der Alexandrinerzeil, I, 405, n. 157b.
46Fabricius-Harles, Siblioiheca Orceea, I, 70. H, Haupt,
Philoloyus, xxvm, 373.
41 Acta SS. Martii, I, 498, 500 ; Mail, vn, 100. An angel
only shows the scribe the tablet, of which the material is
not denoted, from which he is to copy the Gospels of Kil-
dare, in the account of Gerald de Barri (1186), Topograph.
Hib. Opera, ed. Dimock, v, 123; cf. Berthelot, La
Chimie au Moyen-Age, in, 120. It must be noted that
the fiction of tablets does not appear in the accounts of
the originals of Perlesuaus, written by an angel (Perles-
vaus, p. 1), or of the Grand St. Graal (ed. Hucher, n, 9,
439, 441), written by Christ, or in the book of wonders
sent from heaven to Brandan (Schroeder, Sand Brandan,
vii). According to an interpolated passage in a sixteenth
century manuscript of the life of a sixth century St. Caillin
(Diet. Nat. Biog., vm, 211), an angel dictated to him a
history of Ireland (D"Arbois de Jubainville, Le cycle
mythologiijue irlandais, 82).
48 On different traditions of its discovery, cf. Kopp,
Beitrage zur Gesch. der Chemie, I, 370. Steinschneider was
not acquainted with any Arabic source ; Sitzungsb. der
Wien. Akad. Phil. Hist. Klasse, 151, I, 26. On the tra-
dition of finding the works of Hermes in various forms,
cf. Berthelot, La Chimie au Moyen-Age, I, 242 ; n, 311, 328 ;
in, 120. The " laminje plumbese "secretly immured
with the Seven Sleepers, telling of the cause of their mar-
tyrdom, found in different versions of their hagiography
(Acta SS. Julii, vi, 382, 386, 390, 391, 394) seems to be the
first of a class of forgeries that does not call for treatment
here (cf. Wattenbach, /. c., 50). Delehaye ((. c., 101, n.
4) has noted how tradition enhances the material value
of inscriptions ; stone becomes bronze, etc.
20
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
engraved on golden plates,49 through the revela-
tions of an angel.
Arethas in stating that the annals of Dictys
were found, as written, on bronze tablets, which
were copied and transferred into books, makes the
same distinction between two kinds of writing
material as is found in the account of George
Synkellos, based upon the pseudo-Manetho, of
how the works of Thoth-Hermes, originally in-
scribed in a sacred language in hieroglyphics on
pillars (crrijXcu), were translated into Greek, in
hieroglyphic script, preserved in books in the
sanctuary of the temples of the Egyptian.60 Of this
process through which the Ephemeris passed there
is no sign elsewhere. Surely the Latin translator
would have translated by " Pugillares " or "ta-
bulas," "o-wuces" "SeXToi," if it had occurred
in his Greek original. The peculiarly Latin word
" volumina " in the passage in the Prologus, " de
toto bello decem volumina in tilias digessit, " does
not seem to be able to have any other meaning
but that of the division of the work into parts, a
use of the word peculiarly Augustan, becoming
rarer with succeeding generations of writers.51
The writer of the Epistle speaks of the original
work as ' ' libros ex philyra, ' ' using ' ' libros ' ' in
its more general sense of "book," "volume,"
in which writing material made out of linden-bast
would have been properly included, according to
the specific statements of Galen and Ulpian,52 but
49 W. A. Linn, The Story of the Mormons, 23 ff. The
author of the most recent neurotic gospel hag obviated the
difficulty of a material original of her revelation, by
making herself the amanuensis of God ( F. W. Peabocly,
Complete Exposure of Eddyism and Christian Science, Boston,
1904, p. 7).
60 Ed. Bonn, I, 72, 14 ft. The process of translating the
original sacred language, corresponds to the additional
process denoted in the prologus " Nero jussit in Grsecum
sermonem ista transferri " and "Dictys peritus vocis et
litterarum Phoenicum," although there is not the same
need in the case of Dictys, and Dr. Griffin has properly
rejected it (9, n. 1), although the fiction of a Hebrew
original is found in certain Christian apocryphal texts, e.
g. Liber Sapientirz ( Andr<5, Les Apocryphes de Vancien testa-
ment, 319) ; Ada Pilati (Harnack, 1. c. ; H. Peter, Neue
Jahrb. f. d. k. Alterlh., xix, 23).
61 One of the chief sources of Philostratus, in his Life of
Apollonius, was "rds S4\rovs T(OV inrofjLytjtuiTbjv" of Damis
(ed. Kayser, 3, 33), showing a somewhat contemporaneous
use of the word.
62Landwehr, ;. c., 240-241.
not of tablets of linden -wood.63 In no case is
there any evidence for the correction of the Latin
text "tabulas" for " in tilias," as suggested by
Patzig,54 and accepted by Griffin (33, n. 1). In
the Epistle "volumina" is used in the same
sense as in the Prologus, and its author has gone
further in dividing his ' ' ten ' ' volumina into two
main sections, ' ' priorum quinque voluminum,
quse bello contracta gestaque sunt," 66 and the " re-
sidua quinque de reditu Grsecomm," a division into
pentades according to the subject for which he
had the model of Livy ; M the Greek historians,
Diodorus,57 Dion Cassius and Josephus,68 whose
works are arranged in pentades neither purposed
nor made this arrangement according to subject.
Is not this a further proof of the authorship of
the Epistle, by the Roman translator, who made
this addition against the authority of the Prologus,
which speaks of only " sex volumina " according
to all the manuscript evidence ? 69 The use of
"libellus " in the Epistle is again almost peculiar
to Latin of the fourth century in the meaning of
the division of a work, a synonym for " book." m
In a work written in English it would be well
to refer to "Hody" instead of "Hodius" (26,
n. 3). Dr. Griffin speaks of "the original
Malalas " (36), without at all considering the
first edition, known to us by the use made of it by
Evagrius, a point clearly made out by the re-
searches of Shestakov, Brooks and Gleye.61 Nor
does he seem to have accepted Gleye' s suggestion
that the source of the Troica of Tzetzes was this
same more complete edition (30, 72). cz Similarly
63 Cf. Notes 21 and 22.
54 Birt, Das Antike Buchwesen, 98.
^Byzant. Zeit, I, 590.
^Teuffel, Rom. Lit., If 257, 11. On a division into
parts of other Latin works, Landwehr, I. c., 221-2 ;
Dziatzko, 1. c., 109.
67 1, 4.
68 C. Wachsrauth, Rh. Hfus., XLVI, 329 ff. ; for other
divisions in Greek historians cf. Birt, Das ant. Buchwesen,
34, 35, cf. 114, 117, 240; Kohde, Gott. gel. Am., 1882,
1544.
69 One is tempted to correct the impossible construc-
tion of Arethas, " <!£ <5v KO.I pijSMoj" into "<? (to! f£
/3i/3Mos Ka.T€T^dijffav (rvfjifiibvots Kara irdvTa 'Oft-iipy'1 ', this
division would have at least the merit of corresponding in
some way to the 48 books of Homer, and would also con-
firm the MSS. reading " sex."
60 Landwehr, /. c., 244.
«' Byz. Zeit. , v, 422. & L. c., 427.
January, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
21
(46, n. 2) he has failed to note various studies
on the importance of the Slavic translation for the
Greek text, particularly Gleye's use of it in his
reconstruction of the Troica of Malalas.63 The
tradition of the ' ' portraits, ' ' so characteristic of
the Troica of Byzantine writers, was continued in
the lives of certain saints in the Synaxaria of the
Greek Church, features borrowed from manuals
of painting, in which the Byzantine artists found
the traditional appearance of these saints per-
petuated.6* This feature does not appear in Occi-
dental hagiography/3 and only appears in the
late medieval translations into Latin and the ver-
nacular tongues of the Arabic work of Mubasch-
schir (1053-4), of which the latest version was
the Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers of
Caxton.66 Burton67 has noted the Oriental pre-
ference for joined eye-brows (53, n. 2) ; but Lie-
brecht 6S and others 69 have collected evidence
which shows that this taste is not peculiar to the
East.
Doubtlessly owing to an earlier printing of his
text than is implied by the title-page, Dr. Griffin
has not been able to make use of the text of John
of Antioch found in Lampros's NCOS 'EXXiyvo/^vj/^av,
i (1904), or Biittner-Wobst's and de Boor's edi-
tions of the works of Constantino Porphyrogeuitos.
The Vienna manuscript containing the chronicle
of Johannes Sikeliota shoidd be properly noted as
"Vind. Hist. Graec. 99" (83), and the correct
reading, in agreement with the Ephemeris, of the
name of Hecuba's father is "Dymas."'0 The
agreement of the fragments of the Greek Dictys
with Septimius in the account of the negotiations
of Achilles for the hand of Polyxena,71 confirms
Patzig in thinking that the different account in
Malalas is due to the continual attempt to eulogize
Achilles," a view which Dr. Griffin does not seem
63 L. c., 451.
** Synaxarimn, ecclesias Constantinopolitarue, PropyliEum
ad Ada SS., Nov., p. Ixii.
65 H. Delehaye, /. c., LXXIV, 98.
66 F. Boll, Anglia, xxi, 225, n. 5.
67 Arabian Nights, I, 156, 227 ; III, 255.
^Gennania, v, 123; Gott. gel. Am., 1873, 1479.
69 G. P. Krapp, M. L. N., xix, 235; Hamilton, I. c.,
XX, 80.
">Gleye,5. Z., v, 453-454.
•>1L. c., 11. 21 ff.
72 B. Z., xii, 235-236, 244 ; and now B. Z., xvii, 384.
to be willing to accept entirely (84, n. 3) ; al-
though the same fragments have played havoc
with a number of points in the same critic's re-
construction of the work of Sisyphos of Cos, and
his unshaken opinion that John of Antioch made
use both of Maialas and a Greek Dictys." Future
discussions of the source of Kedrenos will have to
take into account the first version of the chronicle
of Malalas, on which Dr. Griffin has not touched
(90 ff., 104).
There are other details which would call for
comment if space allowed, but they are of minor
importance, and do not reflect on the thorough-
ness with which Dr. Griffin has performed his
work, and one must look forward to the publica-
tion of his chapter on "The Origin of Dares,"
even if the later forgery does not present the in-
terest of Dictys. It is only with the completion
of critical studies on these two worthless literary
productions, that one can work backward to the
Greek cyclic epic, and forward to the medieval
literature on the subject.
GEOKGE L. HAMILTON.
University of Michigan.
GERMAN LITERATURE.
Der Schimmelreiter. Novelle von THEODOR
STORM. Edited with Introduction, Exercises,
Notes, and Vocabulary by JOHN MAcGiLLi-
VRAY and EDWARD J. WILLIAMSON. Boston :
Ginn and Company, 1908.
The editors of this book have placed American
teachers and students under obligation for a use-
ful text of one of the most charming tales of that
master of modern German prose, Theodor Storm.
Those who know and admire the essentially lyric
genius of this author recall the simple outline and
the sombre colors of his Schleswig-Holstein home,
in such striking contrast with the fullness and
poetic suggestiveness of his works. For Storm the
brown heath, the gray sand-spit, the stretch of
"Besides those noted by Griffin, 85-6, cf. B. Z., xii,
236, 245, 257 ; xin, 43 ; and finally B. Z., xvii, 384,
491-3.
22
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
ocean below and the expanse of sky overhead are
the fundamental tones of a music as varied and as
complex as the ever-shifting moods of the human
heart. In his lyric poems and in his short stories
the appreciation of the infinite snggestiveness of
these tones is quite as characteristic of Storm's art
as are the more obvious lines of his sketches of
human life.
Our editors have chosen an admirable specimen
of the poet's craftsmanship. It is an unpretentious
story of the peasant life of the North German
coast, presenting to us with wonderful vividness a
picture of the hardships, ingenuity, success, and
failure of a modern Faust, the dike-builder who
reclaims for the good of the community a waste
strip of sea-marsh — only to incur the suspicion
and hostility of his narrow-minded and super-
stitious neighbors and with his wife and child to
be swept away by a calamity closely connected
with the great enterprise of his life.
The editorial Introduction devotes eight pages
to a resum6 of the essential features of Storm's
life and works and four pages of German to a
sketch of the plot of the story, to a critical estimate
of the work, and to a general evaluation of the
poet. Following the hundred and fifty-three pages
of clearly printed text come thirty-seven pages of
notes, nineteen pages of exercises for translation,
based upon the text of the story, sixteen pages of
Fragen touching the events of the action, the
Schimmelreiter as a work of art, and the poet, and
two pages of Themata zu deutschen Aufsatzen. The
vocabulary at the end of the volume of three hun-
dred and fifty pages is unfortunately confined to
the text of the story, leaving thus undefined a
considerable number of German words, introduced
by the editors, as indicated in the foregoing.
While the present writer believes the special
vocabulary in a book of this kind to be pedagog-
ically bad, since it discourages sight reading and
the early intelligent use of an adequate dictionary,
lie would emphasize the need of completeness, as
the least that may reasonably be expected in a
feature demanded, not by editorial conviction, but
by the commercial instinct of publishing houses.
The editorial comment is on the whole terse,
clear, and appropriate. Real appreciation of the
genius of the author and of the peculiar beauty
and strength of the work under consideration finds
expression in a style calculated to stimulate inde-
pendent thought and appreciation in the reader.
The brevity of the introduction suggests the wise
editorial reserve, which is impossible without some
faith in the intellect and imagination of the public.
But conciseness is not always compatible with
completeness of statement. This may occasionally
account for passages that challenge objection or
even contradiction. So while it is true, for in-
stance, that critics should be allowed a wide lati-
tude in matters so subjective, as is the individual
judgment of the relative merits of different lyric
poets, it seems fair to doubt the propriety — a.) of
coupling Morike and Geibel as similarly gifted
yrists ; 6) of affirming of both a successful rivalry
with Goethe, which even the most enthusiastic ad-
mirers of Morike would scarcely claim for Geibel ;
and c) of comparing Storm to Geibel, by way of
compliment to the Husum poet.
An occasional infelicity or inaccuracy of expres-
sion in •the German part of the Introduction should
be noted, as, for instance, "Auch enihullt der
Dichter eine genaue Kenntnis der menschlichen
Natur ' ' instead of ' ' Auch zeigt d. D. " etc. (p.
xvii) ; ' ' Morike und Geibel, die Goethe . . nicht
weit zuriickstehen " instead of "M. u. G., die
hinter (gegen) Goethe . . zuriickstehen " (p.
x viii) ; ' ' worin er den Rang mit den Besten streitig
macht " instead of " worin erden Besten den Rang
streitig macht'' (or "worin er den Besten eben-
biirtig ist)" (ibid.), " indem er ihn oft in fest-
geschlossener Technik iibertrifft, " instead of " . .
an f. Technik" . . (ibid.'); "seine eigene, poeti-
se he Worte" instead of " seine eigwen, poetischem
Worte" (ibid., footnote 2).
The Notes are generally well conceived and
adapted to the purpose of explaining real diffi-
culties of construction or allusion. They occasion,
ally include, however, the superfluous translation
of individual words explained in the vocabulary.
Such are, e. g., beriohten, beabsichtige, langst (3,
1), Obmann (39, 11), haschen (120, 16). The
systematic attempt of the editors to enrich the
vocabulary of the learner by the suggestion of
synonyms and antonyms and to secure attention
to vital details by means of skilful cross-reference
is wholly commendable. Not equally satisfactory
in every case is the choice of the suggested
synonym, etc. So, e. g., it is quite misleading to
January, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
23
mention (5, 28) Gestalt instead of Oespenst or
Spuk in connection with Erscheinung of the text.
Various other minor defects of the Notes may be
summarized as follows : The expressions Euren
dummen Drachen (8, 26 and 28),/ru</ (11, 5),
wieder (13, 11), the subjunctive konne (73, 16),
and Storm's use of phrases like naeh dort (48, 7
and elsewhere) are sufficiently peculiar to call for
editorial comment ; the plural Teleskopen (10, 2)
should be designated as dialectic and contrasted
with the regular form ; the note to Bussolen (10,
1) is unintelligible with its Landstecherskompasse
instead of Landmesserkompasse ; the note to the
complementary infinitives ritzen and prickeln (10,
7) should also explain their technical meaning in
this context ; the note to Deichgraf (14, 2)
' ' regularly declined weak ; otherwise colloquial
or dialectical" applies to 138, 11 ; it does not
apply to 14, 2 : the connection shows that in the
sentence, ' ' Du kannst es ja vielleicht zum Deich-
graf bringen " the word Deichgraf here designates
the title or office and not a concrete holder of the
office ; as such it is the regular uuinflected form ;
sie angeknabbert (15, 20) is explained as meaning
an sie gefressen, which is certainly not correct
German. Something like sie angefressen (or sie
angenagt) seems to have been in the mind of the
editors ; the student would infer from the note to
29, 25 that am Boden is less usual than auf dem
Boden, whereas the real distinction is that the
former is the older and vaguer and the latter the
more precise designation of place ; Vergiss er (23,
23 ) is not sufficiently explained by stating that it
is the ' ' second person singular imperative, the er
being superfluous ; " the note should call attention
to the cross between the third person singular of
the hortatory subjunctive and the second person
singular of the imperative, presented in this form
of address ; um in the phrase um zehn Jahre weiter
(87, 16) is a preposition measuring a difference of
time and not an adverb meaning ungefahr ; the
different forms of address, used by different social
ranks or classes when conversing with each other,
should be explained in a future note to 101, 24
and 26.
A useful discussion of the principal points of
German as distinguished from English word-order
is prefixed to the Exercises for Translation. The
statement of the editors (II, [2]) that "the
separable particle in compound verbs in a simple
tense ... is inseparable" needs modification in
the interest of clearness. The general word-order
scheme given on page 197 would be more helpful
if arranged so as to include concrete illustrative
examples.
The English exercises are idiomatic, conceived
in the spirit of the story, and yet sufficiently dif-
ferent from the text to afford excellent discipline
in assimilating the German vocabulary.
The Fragen touch all the chief events in the
story and in the life of the poet. They are well
conceived and so searching as to compel the stu-
dent who would answer them to scan attentively
and thoughtfully the whole work. They might
be used to good purpose as the starting point of a
series of written reports upon successive parts of
the tale. Several slips in the phrasing of these
questions should receive attention in a second
edition : For ist read wird (213, 30) ; for Iconnte
read konne or konnte (214, 7); for die read der
(215, 1); for Wo read Wohin (216, 8, 226, 9 and
226, 16); for Worin read Worein (216, 9); for
einen read ein (216, 19) ; for Besuch read Besuchs
(216, 23); for dritten read drittem (216, 28); for
Anschauer read Zuschauer (217, 6) as the more
usual form ; for Warum so ? read simply Warum ? or
Warum dennf (218, 10-11 and 222, 29); for
dieselbe(n) read sie (218, 28, 219, 14 and 25,
and 223, 27) ; for gegen dieselben read dagegen
(221, 3 and 4); for denselben ("Wie trat Hauke
denselben entgegen?") read ihnen ("Wie trat
ihnen Hauke entgegen?") (221, 4); for sich
hineinmischen read sich einmischen (219, 9 and
10); for endete read beendete (brachte zu Ende)
(221, 6) ; for "als Oktober wieder da war " read
"als der Oktober wieder da war" (222, 4); for
Wohltatiger read Wohltdter (225, 20) ; for stier-
nackig read stiernackig (225, 23, 25, 27, 29, and
33); for wenn so read in diesem Fall (225, 34);
for auf diejenigen, die ihnen uberwachsen sind
read, for the sake of terseness, auf die ihnen
Uberwaclisenen (225, 35); for " Anpassung des
Stils der Stimmuug oder dem Inhalt" read "A.
d. S. an die Stimmung oder den Inhalt" (227,
13); for leaving examination read finals (final
examination) (228, 7); for "Welche politiscAe
Ereignisse" read "Welche politischen E." (228,
19-20); for " Die verschiedenen Auftreten des
24
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
Eschenbaums und deren Zweck ' ' read ' ' Das wie-
derholte Auftreten d. E. und dessen Zweck "
(229, 18).
The book is excellent in point of paper, type,
and printing. But few misprints have been dis-
covered : A comma should be inserted after the
word Notes on the title page ; quotation marks
should be used before the word Man and after the
final word ist, page xix, 11. 14 and 30 ; for dlesl
read alles (8, 2) ; for ihn read ihm (175, 15);
for kamen read k'dmen (191, 5).
A clearly printed map of Schleswig-Holstein
and also one of the conjectural topography of the
story, given on page xx, are an important aid to
the intelligent reading of the story.
The hope and confidence that the sale of this
pioneer American text of the Sehimmelreiter will
warrant an early new edition of the book is the
occasion of the somewhat detailed review of it
herewith presented.
STARE WILLAED CUTTING.
The University of Chicago.
FRENCH LITERATURE.
Molilre et I'Espagne, par GUILLAUME HUSZA"B.
Paris : Champion, 1907, pp. ix+ 332 in 8°.
In the present work, M. Huszar has applied to
Moliere the same critical method that he employed
in his well known work on Corueille.1 Now, as
before, he has been preceded by M. Martinenche,
who has been working in the same field.2 So in
a discussion of M. Huszar' s book a brief com-
parison with that of M. Martinenche will not be
out of place, and the comparison is rendered all
the more interesting by the fact that the two
critics arrive at different conclusions. M. Mar-
tinenche has aimed above all to throw new light
on the Spanish sources of Moliere. For him
Moliere' s superiority to his originals is unquestion-
able, and he never fails to reassert Moliere' s
1 P. Corneille et le theatre tspagnoh, Paris, 1903.
SE. Martinenche, La comedia expagnole en France de
Hardy a Racine, Paris, 1900. E. Martinenche, Molitre et
le theatre espagnol, Paris, 1906.
originality whenever it may be called in question.
M. Huszur, on the other hand, has not limited
himself to a study of sources, but has tried to
revise the verdict of the critics concerning Moliere
and to establish his proper place in general litera-
ture, or as he puts it la litterature europeenne.
M. HuszaVs work divides itself naturally into
three parts ; a summary of the critical literature
dealing with Moliere (which serves as an intro-
duction), a study of Moliere' s Spanish sources,
and finally a critical evaluation of Moliere' s work.
The author shows in his introduction that many
of those who have hitherto discussed Moliere' s
relation to Spain have allowed their judgments to
be influenced by considerations entirely foreign to
literary criticism. The Spaniards themselves have
taken little part in the discussion compared with
the Italian, German, and French critics. Itali-
ans, such as Tiraboschi and Riccoboni, have tried
to prove that Moliere is indebted to Italy rather
than Spain for his plots. The German critics,
especially Schack and Klein, have been unjust to
Moliere because of their dislike for the principles
of the French classic drama. French critics have
been actuated by patriotism to exalt Moliere at
the expense of his foreign models, justifying on
the ground of his superior genius whatever borrow-
ings they were forced to admit. Among the worst
offenders in this regard are the editors of the
official definitive edition of Moliere, Despois and
Mesnard ; and M. Huszdr is at times very severe
in his attacks on them. He considers himself in
a position to discuss the question dispassionately,
as he is a Hungarian with no personal attachment
to either country. For two critics, however, he
expresses the highest admiration ; for M. Brune-
tiere, whose writings inspired him to undertake
the present study, and for Sr. Menendez y Pelayo,
whose impartiality is above reproach.
In the second part of the work, every play of
Moliere is taken up and discussed with reference
to the Spanish drama. This exclusive attention
to Spanish sources would not be justifiable in a
book of the scope of M. Huszdr' s, were it not
that he considers that Moliere was little affected
by any other foreign influence. The only plays
where Spanish influence is not visible are the
Jalousie du Barbouille and the Fourberies de
Seapin, which are drawn from Italian sources.
January, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
25
Other instances of Italian influence are generally
disposed of by proving that the Italian models are
imitations from the Spanish ; e. g. , the Medicin
volant is taken from Dominique's Medico volante,
which is derived from Lope's Acero de Madrid.
In the long list of Spanish plays which Moliere
has imitated, or in which one may discover striking
analogies to certain scenes of his, M. Huszdr
presents very few facts that have not been brought
out by M. Martinenche and others. In a way
this is an advantage, for we feel sure we are
dealing with accepted facts when we come to
consider the justice of the conclusions drawn from
them by M. Huszar.
To sum up the Spanish influence on Moliere,
we find that his ideas as to the doctors, the pre-
cieuses, the hypocrites, and the jealous husbands
had all been expressed in Spain, that almost all of
his plots have some element borrowed from Spain,
and that three of his plays, La Princesse d' Elide,
Don Juan, and I'Ecole des marls may certainly
be classified as adaptations of Spanish originals,
while there is a strong probability that the same
is true of Doni Garcie de Navarre, Sganarelle, and
the Fdcheux. Moliere has not allowed himself
to .be dominated by his originals, however, and
has borrowed only what suited his purposes. If
any of his plays are failures they are precisely
those in which he comes nearest to surrendering
his personality by following closely a foreign
model.
In the concluding chapters, where M. Huszdr
tries to determine Moliere' s proper place in the
world's literature, he begins by comparing the
French dramatist with Lope de Vega. Moliere
invented the French comedie, Lope invented the
Spanish comedia. Which author has accom-
plished the greater task ? M. Huszar does not
hesitate to give the palm to Lope, on the ground
that his comedias represent a greater advance on
the entremeses and autos of his predecessors than
the comedies of Moliere do on the productions of
such men as Desmarets, Scarron, and Pierre Cor-
neille.
Granted Lope's superiority as an innovator, it
remains to be seen whether the comedia as intro-
duced by him and continued by Tirso, Alarcon,
Calderon, and others is superior to the comedie
as represented by Moli6re. It is often urged
against the comedia that it usually consists of
little more than a complicated plot, while Mo-
liere devotes himself to the delineation of char-
acter. M. Huszdr protests against this general-
isation and cites a number of comedias that are
real comedies de caractere. After studying
Lope's Acero de Madrid, Tirso' s Burlador de
Sevilla, and Alarcon's Verdad sospechosa, to men-
tion only a few, one can scarcely escape the con-
viction that the Spaniards have produced types
more lifelike than Moliere' s Harpagon and Tar-
tuffe, for example, whatever defects may exist in
the Spanish plays. Again, Alarcon and Tirso
show themselves able to depict character without
neglecting the plot, as Moliere sometimes does.
As to the exactness with which Moliere ob-
served and described his contemporaries, he falls
behind the Spaniards, whose greatest weakness,
perhaps, is their strong local color, the godt de
terroir, which renders them so hard for foreigners
or even Spaniards of a later age to appreciate.
In refutation of the claim that Moliere has given
a complete picture of society, M. Huszdr calls
attention to the fact that the common people, the
financiers, the lawyers, or to descend somewhat,
the entremetteur, the courtisane, and the chevalier
d' Industrie, do not appear in his works. But
they are all represented on the Spanish stage.
The Spaniards had a strong sense of humor ;
the quality that made Cervantes famous was not
possessed by him alone. Moliere is never humor-
ous in the broad sense of the word. His nearest
approach to it is his esprit gaulois, which is often
too strong for any but a French palate and at
other times he falls into mere buffoonery and
horse-play.
To summarize M. Huszdr' s conclusions, which
he develops by a train of close reasoning sup-
ported by numerous examples, the Spaniards are
superior to Moliere in the fertility of their inven-
tive genius, as shown in their complicated plots
and in the variety of the characters brought upon
the stage ; furthermore they have a strong sense
of humor, which the French lack. They are
equal to Moliere in the exactness with which they
portray their contemporaries. They share with
Moliere such weaknesses as the repetition of con-
ventional types and factitious endings. Moliere
is superior in the depth of his philosophical obser-
vations and in his clear and logical style.
The relative merits being so nearly equal in
26
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
each case, how are we to explain Moliere's success
and the oblivion into which the Spanish dramatists
have fallen ? M. Huszdr replies :
"Le success de 1'oeuvre de Moliere, nous 1'attribuons,
au moins, en partie, a 1' universality de 1' esprit francais;
sa come'die a be'ndficie' des qualite's de cet esprit que le
labeur commun d'une foule de grands (Scrivains a rendu si
apte 4 concevoir toute pens^e et a la formuler de manigre
S, la rendre intelligible & tous. . . . Quand on compare
Moliere a des dramaturges d'autre race, il est juste de
conside'rer les avantages en possession desquels le mit sa
naissance ; Lope et ses disciples an contraire de'ployaient
des qualites qui tiraient toute leur valeur d'elles-m6mes.
Nous donnons done S ce parallele cette conclusion qui ne
nous paratt pas paradoxale : si 1'oeuvre de Moliere eut une
destine* plus glorieuse que celle des Espagnols, il le doit
presque autant a sa qualitd de Francais qu'S son propre
gdnie." 3
Personally the reviewer can subscribe to this
opinion only with reserve. M. Huszdr should
have named a few of that "foule de grands
ecrivains ' ' who had imparted to French style its
lucidity and logical sequence. It is agreed that
these qualities explain to a certain extent Moliere's
success, but it does not follow that he inherited
them from his predecessors. Moliere and his
contemporaries built up the literary tradition
which has made French style a model of clearness.
It does not seem to have occurred to M. Huszdr
that the political development of France and of
Spain has affected the popularity of their respec-
tive literatures abroad. When a nation is strong
politically the attention it attracts along all lines
contributes in no slight degree to the vogue of
its literature. During the period of Spam's
political supremacy the number of persons familiar
with its language and customs made the diffusion
of its literature easy. The same causes conspired
later to spread the knowledge of French literature.
In more recent times Germany's political rise has
brought with it an increased interest in German
literature.
M. Huszdr' s discussion of originality in his
final chapter has not the charm of novelty. The
position that an author is justified in taking an
old idea if he can impart new force to it by
stamping it with the mark of his own genius is
hardly disputed now. To the English-speaking
public, Shakespeare's superiority over Moliere
»P. 297.
scarcely admits of discussion. As to Dante and
Cervantes, it is evident that they had more cre-
ative genius than Moliere, but, as M. Huszdr
himself observes elsewhere, this is not the only
point to be considered. It is something of a
surprise to see Balzac placed in such illustrious
company, but this is a question of taste which
does not call for discussion.
M. Huszdr' s book is well written, his reasoning
is sound on the whole, and his knowledge of his
subject most thorough. His work is a valuable
contribution to comparative literature.
U. S. Naval Academy.
J. A. KAY.
SCIENTIFIC GERMAN.
Introduction to Scientific German. Air, Water,
Light, and Heat. Eight Lectures on Experi-
mental Chemistry. By Dr. REINHART BLOCH-
MANN, Professor of the University of Konigs-
berg. Edited with Notes and Vocabulary by
FREDERICK WILLIAM MEISNEST, Ph. D. New
York : Henry Holt and Company, 1906.
A German Science Reader, with Notes and Vo-
cabulary. By WILLIAM H. WAIT, Ph. D.
New York : The Macmillan Company, 1907.
An introductory text for a class devoted pri-
marily to scientific German should be written in
comparatively simple German, and should contain
matter of general interest to most of the students.
Physics and chemistry, above all other sciences,
will appeal in some degree to practically every
member of such a class. An excellent book with
which to begin a course in scientific German will,
therefore, be one which presents in clear and sim-
ple language the most important facts of the two
sciences mentioned.
Such a book Dr. Meisnest has given us in his
edition of eight popular lectures delivered some
ten years ago by Professor Blochmann at Konigs-
berg — lectures devoted respectively to (1) a gen-
eral introduction in which is explained the differ-
ence between physical and chemical changes, the
characteristics of solids, fluids, and gases, the dis-
tinction between alchemy and chemistry, and the
January, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
27
structure of all matter from about seventy-eight
elements, (2) air, (3) water, (4) carbon dioxide,
(5) combustion, (6) incomplete combustion, (7)
work, heat, light, (8) slow combustion.
Blochmann's lectures are interesting not only
because they take up the phenomena of daily
life, but because they explain also the importance
and the construction of various useful contrivances
as the Bunsen burner, the gas-range, the Drum-
mond calcium light, Davy's safety lamp for
miners, the Fahrenheit, Reaumur, and Centigrade
thermometers, the Welsbach light, the spectro-
scope, and others. Finally, they trace the his-
torical evolution from the old Greek philosophical
systems through the mediseval theories of the
" philosopher' s stone " to the modern conception
of scientific physics and chemistry. The text is
supplied, moreover, with more than fifty draw-
ings illustrating the experiments.
The style is, in the main, simple and concise.
In about thirty places the substitution of a semi-
colon for an original comma would make clear a
sentence which in the present form gives unneces-
sary difficulty to the beginner. Of misprints, less
than half a dozen occur.
The editorial work has, on the whole, been
carefully done. The Introduction takes up various
' ' suggestions for the study of scientific German ' '
— discussions on the German participial construc-
tions, on the theory of word-composition, and on
the method of acquiring a vocabulary. All these
are helpful to the beginner in scientific German.
The Notes, although extending over only six
pages, contain all the information necessary for
understanding the references in the text. Some
readers might object to the note to 24,7 that
man is rarely translated by ' one. ' Class-room
experience with the book will show also that the
insertion, either in the Notes at the back of the
book, or in footnotes, of the chemical equations
representing the reactions described in the Ger-
man text, will be a great help in securing for the
students a technical vocabulary.
The Vocabulary is to be particularly com-
mended for its completeness and its excellent
arrangement. Accented syllables, plural of
nouns, vowel changes and other irregularities of
verbs are indicated. Two definitions are to be
corrected. Under Bleioxyd the subdivision essig-
saures Bleioxyd is given "carbonate of lead."
This should evidently read "acetate of lead."
Under Kohlensaure we find the definition "car-
bonic acid." This, though a literal translation
of Kohlensaure, is open to objections. It should
be given " carbonic acid gas" and the alternative
definition "carbon dioxide" — a term generally
used in English for the chemical compound C02
— should be added.
Blochmann's lectures, as edited by Dr. Meis-
nest, are a welcome addition to our available
texts for use in scientific German classes ; as an
introductory text for such classes this edition of
lectures is unusually practical and successful.
Whereas in Blochmann the student is brought
face to face with principles which apply to all
sciences, in Wait's Reader he finds the general
field of science presented by subjects. The six
chapters deal respectively with Chemistry as
taken from the German writer Gerlach, Physics
by Sattler, Geology by Fraas, Mineralogy by
Brauns, Astronomy by Mobius-Wislicenus, Anat-
omy by Rebmann. For purposes of correction
and verification, the exact titles and dates of the
works from which these chapters are taken should
have been cited.
A new edition will make the Header more ser-
viceable. A number of misprints can easily be
corrected. The table of elements on page 4
omits seven elements (of more or less importance)
which are included in the table in Blochmann
(published a year earlier than Wait) — gadoli-
nium, krypton, neon, radium, terbium, thulium,
xeon. The atomic weights given in the short
table on page 117 differ from those given on page
4 — in some cases by two or three points. Chlorine
is given as 53.2 (evidently a misprint for 35.2).
The Notes extend over fifty-seven pages.
Though they are written, as the editor states,
"with a view to meeting conditions as they are,
and not as they should be," one might gravely
doubt whether the notes of a science reader are
expected to inform a student that vom = von dem
(note to 1, 1), that Berlin is the capital of Ger-
many (80, 11), that Chili and Peru are countries
in South America (80, 14), that Siberia is a Rus-
sian territory in Northern Asia (29, 1). In a
note to 2, 5, is explained the method of trans-
28
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
lating the participial phrase. References to this
explanation occur throughout the notes more than
a hundred times. The fifty-seven pages of Notes
could have been compressed by omitting ele-
mentary grammatical and geographical notes, by
limiting the number of times that the same refer-
ence is cited, and by relegating to the Vocabulary
many of the definitions now found in the Notes.
Several features of the Notes are to be com-
mended— the explanations concerning the correct
reading in German of various formulae, and the
explanations (page 210) of the relation between
German and English geological and mineralogical
terms. The lists, at the end of each chapter, of
the important German words and phrases, with
their pronunciation and definition, serve a good
purpose.
The Vocabulary, so far as the English defi-
nitions are concerned, leaves little to be desired.
The anatomical terms give most trouble. It
might have been well, therefore, to give in the
Vocabulary not only the generally accepted Eng-
lish term for a particular bone or muscle (for
instance, "ethmoid bone" for Siebbein, "sphe-
noid bone" for Keilbein, "sagittal suture" for
Pfeihiaht, ' ' coracoid process ' ' for Rabenschnabel-
fortsatz), but, in addition, the direct English
definition or cognate of the German term (thus,
sieve bone, wedge bone, arrow suture, raven' s-
beak process). The student would thus get a
fairly definite idea of the position, shape, or func-
tion of a particular bone or muscle. In some cases
the editor has followed this plan (thus, Backen-
zahn, cheek tooth, molar).
In citing verbs, the editor has generally given
the vowel changes of the preterite and past parti-
ciple, and, in the case of irregular verbs, has given
the parts in full. It is to be regretted that this
principle has not been carried out consistently.
Objection might also be raised against the method
of giving verbs with separable prefixes thus : abge-
hen (-ging, -gegangeii). The insertion of the
hyphen before the preterite is misleading. Dr.
Meisnest's plan of omitting the hyphen altogether
would be preferable.
A word about the practical utility of the two
books will not be out of place. Neither is too
bulky (Blochmann has 148 pages of text, Wait
179), nor too tedious for a class beginning scien-
tific German. Wait's Reader has the advantage
of being printed in Eoman type. Both books
have given satisfaction in the class-room. Wait
is a little too difficult as an introductory text ; it
should be preceded by a simpler book like Bloch-
mann. If both are carefully translated, the stu-
dent will have a good basis for independent read-
ing in scientific German.
FREDERICK W. C. LIEDER.
Harvard University.
Studies in Victor Hugo's Dramatic Characters, by
JAMES D. BRUNER, Ph. D., Professor of the
Romance Languages in the University of North
Carolina. With an Introduction by RICHARD
GREEN MOULTON, Ph. D., Head of the Depart-
ment of General Literature in the University of
Chicago. Ginn and Company, 1908. Pages
xx + 171.
There are some of us who, without being com-
pelled by our tasks to do so, enjoy going back
every few years to the drama of Hugo. Except-
ing Cromwell, the root of it, and The Burgraves,
the seed of it, the whole plant is good eating, and
renews itself perennially, The situations never
fail to thrill, the bursts of lyricism are as poignant
as ever, and the absurdities are, in the technical
language of college girls, " simply lovely." The
critical soul is beyond hope when it can no longer
be stirred by melodramas which were able to set
all Paris by the ears, and bring their author into
court.
And now comes Professor Bruner, with four
solid, honest, "inductive" studies to persuade
us that the main characters in Hernani, Buy
Bias, and Lucrezia can each be harmonized into
a unity of design. To do him justice, he sticks
at Lucrezia, and in spite of the pathetic appeal of
her maternity, declares her an impossibility. But
in the case of Ruy Bias, it is remarkable with
what thorough-going pains he collects his data,
with what impetus he moves forward, and how
far he actually carries us with him. He over-
looks nothing. He piles up the facts, and will
possibly convince even M. Doumic that Ruy Bias
January, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
29
is not utterly ridiculous. Perhaps Ruy Bias is no
more of a Jekyll-Hyde than Victor Hugo was.
At all events, the analysis is conducted with ex-
actness and sympathy, and constitutes a warning
against hasty impressionism.
By the very terms of his preface, we must not
look to Professor Bruner for much psychological
or historical criticism. But his work will steady
and assist any student who takes his ideas chiefly,
say, from Bruneti£re. Indirectly it throws con-
siderable light upon Hugo and France. When
half a nation is melodramatic, a great melodrama-
tist finds a sympathetic audience, and can rouse
them with pictures of other times for which it has
deep and unsuspected affinities. Incongruous as
are the characteristics of Hernani, the situations
are not more stagey than the facts of Spanish
chivalry. And it is pleasant to see Professor
Moulton bringing this out in his admirably writ-
ten introduction. After tracing the main course
of Greek Drama through rnedisevalism to its diver-
gence in France and England, and showing Hugo's
own division of instinct between situation and
character, he says : "It seems to me a somewhat
perverse criticism that turns from dramatic devel-
opment like this to inquire curiously into the exact
degree of probability in the combination of ele-
ments imagined as basis of character. ' ' Professor
Moulton has sometimes been suspected of despising
historical criticism. In his well-known insistance
on knowing " all the details of the play," he has
sometimes been accused of thinking those details
as interesting to one generation as to another. It
is quite clear that he does not, in any such absurd
sense, regard every masterpiece sub specie (eterni-
tatis. Science works with the category of time,
and all that Professor Moulton insists on is know-
ing the facts before constructing a theory.
Professor Bruuer makes free use of Shakespere
for illustrative purposes. His use of Hamlet, in-
deed, is perhaps too free, since he seems to accept
merely the conventional interpretation of the
prince. This interpretation, however, would ap-
pear to be permanently qualified by such studies
as that of Professor Charlton Lewis.
It may be in place to suggest that Professor
Bruner should translate the nine plays, and that
some publisher should bring them out in a cheap
uniform series. The appeal of such studies would
be greatly widened if this important section of
French literature were easily available in trans-
lation.
E. H. LEWIS.
Lewis Institute, Chicago.
ARNOLD'S Fritz auf Ferien, edited with introduc-
tion, vocabulary and notes by A. W. SPAN-
HOOFD, Director of German in the High
Schools of Washington, D. C. Boston : D.
C. Heath & Co., 1906.
The presentation of every story of this character
is to be welcomed by the teacher of German. The
genuinely German sentiment, the delicate humor,
the steady progress of the story to a natural and
charming conclusion, are all points which make
for interest on the part of the student and to a
certain extent, help the text to read itself. From
a pedagogical point of view, the story is valuable
for the great amount of every-day German it con-
tains. Indeed, there are so many idiomatic ex-
pressions in it that they can hardly all be mastered
by an elementary class.
It is to be regretted that the present edition has
been done so carelessly that the teacher has con-
tinually to check up the notes and the pupils
complain constantly of omitted words in the
vocabulary. The name of Dr. Spanhoofd upon
a title-page should be a guarantee against slip-
hod work of this kind. The following have
been noted. 1) Omissions in vocabulary : demge-
mdss, Geschehene, dick, Haken, unbesorgt, auf-
setzen, Stock, plotzlich, ergeben, Meerschwein in
the sense of ' porpoise, ' to explain the joke on
pages 32 and 33 ; 2) careless errors : the word
verurunden is referred back to iiberwinden, which
is not given at all. The only hint as to the
meaning of Herumstreifen is to be found under
umherstreifcn. Reihe is given as meaning 'turn,'
when the meaning (p. 26) is 'series.' Several
times the spelling in the vocabulary differs from
that of the text ; e. g., Spezies and Species, tod-
lich, totlich. Misprints are few. There is a
dropt e in the word Wagentur in the vocabulary
and in one or two places the plates have become
worn. The spelling does not conform to the latest
orthography.
30
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
Some of the notes need revision. Page 2, note
1 : mauskahl gesehoren. "Reference is made to
a mouse as having very short hair ; thus, maus-
kahl, as bald as a mouse." This is obviously
wrong. The reference is to the hairless tail of
the mouse, which like all rodents, has a bald tail.
It might also refer to the condition of the young
mice at time of birth. There is no note on the
difficult passage on page 26 beginning, "Eine
ganze Reihe von .... Aufmerksamkeiten ....
schlangen sich . . . . " Here it should be shown
that the Reihe is singular, the verb is plural, due
to the influence of the plural Aufmerksamkeiten.
This same error of attraction often occurs in collo-
quial English. The passage as it stands without
a note causes needless difficulty even to a good
student.
It is axiomatic that a text for elementary pupils
should be as free from error as human ingenuity
can make it. At the beginning of the pupil's
study of a language each unnecessary stumbling-
block does incalculable harm, and so a text as
carelessly edited as the present is unsafe to put in
the hands of beginners. It is too bad that in this
second imprint of the text these errors have not
been eliminated, and it is only to be hopt that a
speedy revision will obviate the mistakes which
are now found.
G. H. DANTON.
Stanford University.
CORRESPONDENCE.
A NOTE ON SPENSER'S AECHAISM AND CICERO.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — In his letter to " the most excellent and
learned both orator and poete. Mayster Gabriell
Harvey", that busy-body friend of Spenser, whose
desire to follow the example of his "Author"
and remain ' ' Immerto ' ' has provided a wide
field of conjecture in later times as to his identity,
besides promising to furnish a "glosse" for the
words in the poems to follow, which are "so
auncient," "something hard, and of most men
unused,' desires to justify and warrant Spenser's
stylistic trick of archaizing. He declares as his
own belief that "those auncient solemn wordes
area great ornament." Casting about for class-
ical authority for the poet's practice, he lights
upon Cicero. To quote the " glosser " :
" For, if my memory faile not, Tullie, in that
booke wherein he endevoureth to set forth the
paterne of a perfect Oratour, sayth that ofttimes
an auncient worde maketh the style seeme grave,
and as it were reverend. . . . Yet nether every
where must old words be stuffed in. . . ."
With this "E. K." seeks to leave the impres-
sion that Spenser's "immoderate and constant
archaism" carried the authority of Cicero's ap-
proval. So far as a single passage in the De
Oratore, to which he undoubtedly refers, is con-
cerned, "E. K." has quoted Cicero correctly.
In Book in, cap. 38, Crassus says :
' ' There are three qualities ... in a simple word
which the orator may employ to illustrate and
adorn his language ; he may choose either an
unusual word {inusitatum) , or one that is new
or metaphorical. Unusual words are generally
of ancient (vetusta) date or fashion, and such as
have been out of use in daily conversation ; these
are allowed more freely to poetical licence than
to ours [oratorical], . . . which if properly intro-
duced, a speech assumes an air of greater grandeur
(grandior)." l
"E. K." has, however, told only half the
truth in regard to Cicero's attitude towards the
use of archaic words. With a single reference,
taken out of its context, he makes Cicero an
advocate of archaizing. Cicero's interest in ques-
tions of usage, as is generally known, was slight.*
In the De Oratore there is no detailed treatment
of diction as a quality of style. Cicero dismisses
this subject as one of easy attainment. Yet where
'Translated by J. S. Watson, London, 1855, p. 375.
2 Professor G. L. Hendickson, " De Analoyia, of Julius
Casar," Classical Philology, I, 2, recounts most clearly the
trend of Cicero's stylistic studies. He says: "Cicero
speaks almost contemptuously, certainly slightingly, of
that goal of effort, to the attainment of which the con-
temporary purists were bending all the efforts of their
elaborate grammatical and literary studies. Against their
grammar, with its worship of correctness and purity, he
arrays the ancient mistress of emotional speech, rhetoric."
January, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
31
he has casually, here and there, touched upon the
question of the use of obsolete words he has
expressed an opinion contrary to that which
" E. K." seems to desire to fasten upon him.
The following quotations from the third Book of
the De Oratore will show Cicero's attitude
towards Spenser's mannerism :
" There is also & fault which some industriously
strive to attain ; a rustic and rough pronunciation
is agreeable to some, that their language, if it has
that tone, may seem to partake more of antiquity
(antiquitatem) ." Cap. xi.
"... an object [purity in the Latin tongue]
which we shall doubtless effect, . . . adopting
words in common use (verbis usitatis) ." Cap. xin.
" There is such a jumble of strange words, that
language which ought to throw light upon things,
involves them in obscurity and darkness." Cap.
XIII.
" For I do not imagine it to be expected of me
that I should admonish you to beware that your
language be not poor, or rude, or vulgar, or
obsolete (obsoleta)." Cap. xxv.
"In regard then to words taken in their own
proper sense, it is a merit in the orator to avoid
mean and obsolete (obsoleta) ones." Cap. xxxvii.
"If a word be antique (vetustum) , but such,
however, as usage (consuetudo') will tolerate,
..." Cap. XLIII.
Among classical writers on style " E. K."
might easily have found authority with which to
bolster up his defence. Cicero, however, would
never have given his approval to the archaic
twist of Spenser' s style.
JAMES FINCH ROYSTER.
University of North Carolina.
THE SECOND EDITION OF DEYDEN'S Virgil.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — In Modern Language Notes for May,
1904 (vol. xix, p. 125), I stated, on the basis
of a volume owned by the Yale University
Library, that the second edition of Dry den's
Virgil was printed in 1697, with the same title-
page as the first edition of the same year. This
account I have later found to be mistaken. The
Harvard College Library now possesses a copy of
the real second edition, which, as Malone states,
was published in 1698. The book on which I
based my earlier article proves to be a made-up
volume ; it is a copy of the second edition (1698),
but the title-page has been removed, and replaced
by one from a copy of the first edition (1697).
In the Cambridge edition of Dryden's Poetical
Works, now in press, I have attempted a collation
of all significant variations between the first and
second editions of his Virgil.
GEORGE E. NOYES.
University of California.
KING JAMES' CLAIM TO RHYME ROYAL.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS :— Some years ago, in discussing the word
ballade, the editors of the New English Dictionary
perpetuated an error which seems to have gone
unconnected in print ; 1 since it not only remains
uncorrected but is practically reaffirmed by them
in a recent issue of the dictionary, under the word
rhyme.1 This is the statement, apparently a mere
guess of some scholar of the nineteenth century,
that rhyme royal, or ballade royal, owes its name
to the fact that King James I of Scotland, a
"royal" poet, wrote The Kingis Quair in that
metre. May I present some evidence tending to
set this matter right, and ask your readers for
further information in regard to the origin of the
terms ?
A famous form of Old French verse was the
Chant Royal, a poetic structure of stanzas of
eleven lines each, with a common refrain, con-
cluded by an envoy of five or six lines. In the
fourteenth century the Provenjal ballade became
a ruling form in Northern France, and was
speedily conventionalized. It borrowed from the
elder form its structure of stanzas with a common
refrain, concluded by a short envoy. The stanzas
were limited to three. At first but two rhymes
were allowed ; afterwards it was merely the rule
that each stanza should have the same rhymes as
the others. These were frequently arranged as
ababbcc, or ababbcbe.3
1 Volume i, p. 639c.
2 Volume vin, p. 634c. Here the editors do not them-
selves repeat the statement, but after citing Latham, 1841,
Eng. Lang., by name only, they quote from "1873, H.
Morley, Eng. Lit. v, Chaucer's own seven-lined stanza,
which . . . has been called rhyme royal], because this
particular disciple [sc. James I of Scotland] used it,"
This is the only statement as to origin that is made or
cited, and it must he concluded that the editors are still of
their old opinion, and desire to be held responsible for
this restatement.
3 Cf. H. Chatelain, Rechenhes sur le Vers fran$ais au TV*
Silde, Paris, 1908, chaps, x-xi, for further description
of these forms.
32
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
When Chaucer used the word ballade he un-
doubtedly meant the first of these, for he calls
one of his poems so written "made in ballade"
(Legend, 539).
Gower used the same term when he wrote his
French Ballades. Some of these are, however, of
seven lines, some of eight.
Probably about 1402 (see The Yorkshire Ar-
chaeological Journal, for March, 1908), Quixley
translated Gower's Traitie, and says of it
" Gower it made in frensh with gret studie
In ballades ryal."
If the date be correct, this is probably the earliest
extant use of the term in English. Quixley in-
tended it to represent the structure of three stanzas
of sevens, ababbcc, having the same rhymes, and
with a common refrain.
John Lydgate does not use the term royal, and
he extends the word ballade to mean stanzas of
sevens, with or without the same rhymes as others.
When he said
" I took a penne and wroot in my maneer
The said ba.lla.dys as they stondyn heere," 4
he proceeded in what we now call rhyme royal.
Not long after 1430, John Shirley wrote the
famous MS. Trinity College Cambridge R. 3. 20.
Three items in it have these titles :
Balade Ryal de saine counsylle.
Balade moult Bon et Ryal.
Balade Ryal made by oure laureat poete of
Albyon (Chaucer).
These poems, two of them French and one Eng-
lish, show the Chaucerian use of the term ballade.
But the same scribe uses the term balade ryal of
poems transcribed twenty years later, in MS. Bod-
ley Ashmole 59, where the stanzas do not have
the same rhymes, but merely a common refrain.
When John Hardyng wrote his Chronicle (c.
1440), he says after censuring the use by earlier
chroniclers of the short couplet,
" Into balade I wyll it now translate,"
and proceeds in the Troilus stanza. So Barclay
in his Ship of Fools, 1509, speaks of " My balade
bare of frute and eloquence."
The author of the Summum Sapienlice (c. 1450)
calls the same metre staves seven.
In his preface to his print of Burgh's Cato,
1483, Caxton calls the same metre balades ryal,
and Fabyan, 1494, in his Chronicle also speaks
* Ms. Hurley 2255, f. 88b, The Fifteen Joys of Our Lady.
of " baladde ryall." Similarly Stephen Hawes,
(c. 1510) calls Lydgate " the most dulcet spring
of famous rhetoric, with ballade royal. ' '
The term rhyme royal appears first in George
Gascoigne' s Instructions for Verse, 1575, as rhythm
royal.'1 Gascoigne reserved the term ballade for
the newer six-line stanza ababcc.6 But King
James VI of Scotland, in his remarks on verse,
1584, calls the eight-line stanza ababbcbc, Ballat
Royal, and the seven-line stanza ababbce Troilus
stanza.
It has remained for modern critics to fasten the
term rhyme royal definitely upon the seven-line
stanza, and then to justify it by a plausible legend
of its kingly origin.
To sum up : it is probable that the term royal
was attached in France to the ballade (though I
can only judge by Shirley's French, and would
ask for further light) by analogy with the earlier
Chant Royal.'' With this it came to England, and
the term ballade first, and afterwards ballade royal,
were extended to signify the ballade's stanzaic
structure regardless of refrain or community of
rhyme. Gascoigne gives us the word rhythm in
place of ballade, and assigns ballade to another
form of verse, in which meaning it has not been
kept. Not a hint of King James I as using this
metre, or giving it its name, is made by any of the
writers I have cited. His poem was certainly
unknown to those who wrote before his day
(1424), and probably to those who wrote after,
preserved as it was in a single MS. It is time our
lexicographers abandoned this nineteenth-century
fiction.
HENRY NOBLE MACCRACKEN.
New Haven, Conn.
6 See the New Oxford Dictionary under Rhythm, sb. Ib.
It should be noted that Gascoigne, while ignorant of King
James' claim to the phrase, himself gives a wrong account
of the term. Cert. Notes, Tnslr. Eng. Verse (Arb., 38):
"Kythme royall is a verse of tenne sillables, and seuen
such verses make a staffe [etc.]- This hath bene called
Kithme royall, and surely it is a royall kinde of verse, ser-
ving best for grand discourses." This use of the stanza, as in
The Mirror for Magistrates, is a far cry from the Ballade
royal of the French school of courtly love-poetry.
6 It is not in common use much before Gorboduc (c.
1561), though Lydgate used it at least once, in the envoy
to A Prayer to Si. Katherine, St. Margaret, and St. Mawde-
leyne (c. 1430).
'But cf. the term arbaletriere royal, Chatelain, I. c., pp.
185, 190.
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES
VOL. XXIV.
BALTIMORE, FEBKUARY, 1909.
No. 2.
THE "FOREST HERMIT" IN COLE-
RIDGE AND WORDSWORTH.
The romantic imagination, we are to under-
stand, lays emphasis upon the part as against the
whole ; upon the poetic detail as against the large
and unified poetical conception ; upon the indi-
vidual element in poetry — so Aristotle might put
it — as against the universal ; upon the individual
man also as against the state in and for itself.
Hence, in a measure, arises the phenomenon of
the beautiful fragment, like Christabel or Kubla
Khan, which its author is powerless to finish ;
for want of a dominant architectonic idea, for
want of an original and compelling unity, he is
unable to subordinate each separate phrase, each
accretion of images, to the inexorable evolution
of a complete and harmonious masterpiece.
Hence also, if we may make such a leap, comes
in part the romantic idealization of the solitary,
the anchoret, the recluse ; of the individual who
withdraws from the social organism and tries to
exist alone and for himself.
His retreat, of course, must be voluntary. If
it is forced, or forcibly prolonged, he will shortly
be heard lamenting with Cowper's Selkirk :
O Solitude ! where are the charms
That sages have seen in thy face?
And even if it be altogether of his own volition,
he can by no means deny himself the social joy of
telling others about his preference. Thus in a
dozen places De Quincey reveals the secret of his
carefully nourished ' ' passion ' ' for solitude. His
passion, of course, represents a mood that every
one feels now and then. But undoubtedly the
air was surcharged with the mood after the time
of that natural man Rousseau. Even Charles
Lamb, most affable and accessible of mortals,
confesses to a like ".passion," though his con-
fession has the faintest aroma of literary inherit-
ance. The mood was a part of the literary
bequest from a generation preceding.
Undoubtedly, too, there is an element here of
revived medievalism. The romantic solitary car-
ries about him some reminder of the cloister or
the staff and scrip. In any case, retire or wander
as far as he will, he can never quite succeed in
being a creature sundered from the generality, for
after all there are many like him ; and in spite of
his cry, "I am myself, myself alone !" if we
drag him and his nearest neighbor from their re-
spective mossy cells, the sunlight may disclose
similarities between them amounting to the fixed
characteristics of a type.
In reading The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,
the present writer long imagined that the Hermit
who appears in Part vi to shrive the hero had an
original in some real personage. And this may
still be true. The moment the Mariner reaches
shore, he enters a landscape, along the Somerset
coast of the Severn Sea, with which Coleridge
and his erstwhile collaborator, Wordsworth, were
thoroughly familiar ; it may be that somewhere
in their ramblings among the Quantock Hills
one or both of the poets had seen a recluse corres-
ponding, after a fashion, to the Hermit of the
Wood. At the same time, this Hermit has such
first-class literary antecedents, and such clear and
occasionally artificial parallels in Wordsworth and
Coleridge themselves, as to shake one's belief that
either poet necessarily had "his eye on the
object" when the holy man of the Rime was
taking shape. The hermits in English literature
are numerous. It might be interesting to com-
pare this one with a Spenserian character whom
he greatly resembles (albeit the latter is a pious
fraud) ; for it will be recalled that both Coleridge
and Wordsworth were eagerly reading Spenser in
Quantockian days. First, however, it may be
well to compare him and his habitat with other
hermits as conceived by the two modern poets ;
since, whatever his origin, he is without doubt a
stereotyped figure in both, and for Wordsworth
a stock poetical resource, not unlike several of
the pseudo-classic devices which Wordsworth
eschewed.
34
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 2.
Save for a traditional slip in the printing,1 the
description of the ' ' forest Hermit ' ' in the final
text of the Ancient Mariner (lines 508-541, 560-
563, 570-577) is substantially the same as that
first given in the Lyrical Ballads of 1798. Cole-
ridge had indeed introduced a touch of something
similar in a poem which Dykes Campbell assigns
to the year 1793, entitled Lines to a Beautiful
Spring in a Village :
Nor thine unseen in cavern depths to dwell,
The Hermit-fountain of some dripping cell I *
— where the context savors of an influence from
Virgil or even Theocritus. And it is believed
that he had in mind the same scene as that just
cited from the Ancient Mariner, when he put
together certain lines in a " ballad-tale ' ' for
which Wordsworth gave him the subject in 1797,
The Three Graves:
'Tis sweet to hear a brook, 'tis sweet
To hear the Sabbath-bell,
Deep in a woody dell.
His limbs along the moss, his head
Upon a mossy heap,
With shut-up senses, Edward lay :
That brook e'en on a working day
Might chatter one to sleep.*
Again, we may not be far from the holy Hermit's
cushion plump, when we are taken in the mid-
night wood to watch Christabel praying under
the traditional mossy oak :
The sighs she heaved were soft and low,
And nought was green upon the oak
But moss and rarest mistletoe :•
She kneels beneath the huge oak tree,
And in silence prayeth she.4
1 This slip is worth noting. In most of the recent ver-
sions, including the standard text of Dykes Campbell, lines
529-530 of the Ancient Mariner are made to run :
The planks looked warped ! and see those sails,
How thin they are and sere !
Aside from the impossible past tense, looked warped is an
odd bit of cacophony to foist upon the author of Christabel ;
it is about as melodious as the celebrated elegiac line com-
posed— says De Quincey — by Coleridge's old pedagogue,
Jemmy Boyer :
'Twas thou that smooth'd'stthe rough-rugg'dbed of pain.
2 Coleridge, Poetical Works, 1893, p. 24.
8 The Three Graves 492-500, Poetical Works, p. 92 ; see
Hutchinson's edition of Lyrical Ballads, pp. 217, 258.
* Christabel 32-36, Poetical Works, p. 116.
Finally, there is a direct reference to the tradi-
tional hermit, with a general reminiscence of his
sylvan dwelling, in Coleridge's Mad Monk, a
poem written about three years after the Ancient
Mariner, and like the Lines to a Beautiful Spring
in a Village, indebted to a bucolic source in the
classics. The familiar oak has changed to a tree
of equally good literary parentage, the Sicilian
chestnut :
I heard a voice from Etna's side ;
Where o'er a cavern's mouth
That fronted to the south
A chestnut spread its umbrage wide :
A hermit or a monk the man might be ;
But him I could not see :
And thus the music flow'd along,
In melody most like to old Sicilian song :
"There was a time when earth, and sea, and skies,
The bright green vale, and forest's dark recess,
With all things, lay before mine eyes
Iri steady loveliness :
But now I feel, on earth's uneasy scene,
Such sorrows as will never cease ; —
I only ask for peace ;
If I must live to know that such a time has been ! "
The rest is not now to the point. The tale closes
abruptly, with a hint of the hermit's customary
environment :
Here ceased the voice. In deep dismay,
Down through the forest I pursu'd my way.5
So much for sylvan hermits in Coleridge ; now
for a few in Wordsworth. The first that we come
upon in the latter poet is scarcely typical — he is
a man with a family ; but he is fairly artificial.
He dwells on the border of Lake Como, where
Wordsworth with careful circumstantiality pic-
tures him in the Descriptive Sketches of 1793 :
Once did I pierce to where a cabin stood,
The red-breast peace had bury'd it in wood,
There, by the door a hoary-headed sire
Touch' d with his wither' d hand an aged lyre ;
6 The Mad Monk 1-16, 46-47. This poem, by the way,
ought sometime to be compared with Wordsworth's Inti-
mations of Immortality and Coleridge's Dejection; for the
discovery will yet be made that they are all three
In melody most like to old Sicilian song.
The conventional turn, "There was a time . . . But now
. . ." (cf. Dejection, Stanza 6, Intimations of Immortality,
Stanza 1 ) is the same modulation that we find in Lycidas :
But O the heavy change, now thou art gon.
February, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
Beneath an old-grey oak as violets lie,
Stretch'd at his feet with stedfast, upward eye,
His children's children join'd the holy sound,
A hermit — with his family around.6
Whatever reality lay beneath this description,
the artificial side of it becomes apparent the
instant we examine Wordsworth's subsequent
revision. For example, the Popian lyre gives
place to a "rude viol," which may or may not
have been a real element in the original ' ' deli-
cious scene ' ' :
But once I pierced the mazes of a wood
In which a cabin undeserted stood ;
There an old man an olden measure scanned
On a rude viol touched with withered hand.
As lambs or fawns in April clustering lie
Under a hoary oak's thin canopy,
Stretched at his feet, with stedfast upward eye,
His children's children listened to the sound ;
— A Hermit with his family around.7
However, so far as I have observed, the typical
Hermit of the Wood does not appear in Words-
worth until after his emancipation from the gen-
eral artificiality of Descriptive Sketches, or until
his alliance with Coleridge in Lyrical Ballads.
We have noted the type in the first of the Bal-
lads, that is, in the Ancient Manner ; we may
note it also in the poem with which the collection
closes — in Tintern Abbey. Revisiting the sylvan
Wye, the devotee of nature glances over a pastoral
landscape, descrying here and there
wreaths of smoke
Sent up, in silence, from among the trees 1
With some uncertain notice, as might seem,
Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods,
Or of some Hermit's cave, where by his fire
The Hermit sits alone.8
Here, one might fancy, is the identical holy man
of the Ancient Mariner, dwelling, not along the
sylvan Wye, but somewhere among the Quantock
Hills, and transferred for the nonce to the neigh-
borhood of Tintern Abbey. And in the following
6 Descriptive Sketches, 1793, lines 168-175, Poetical Works,
ed. Dowden, 7. 285 ; cf. An Evening Walk 219, Poetical
Works 7. 272.
''Descriptive Sketches (final version) 145-153, Poetical
Works, 1. 27.
8 Lines Composed a few Miles above Tintern Abbey 17-22,
Poetical. Works, 2. 146,
description one might be tempted to find the same
holy man's woodland chapel ; for the " sheltering
cove" or recess in the mountains is almost cer-
tainly in the vicinity of Alfoxden or Nether
Stowey :
A spot where, in a sheltering cove
A little chapel stands alone,
With greenest ivy overgrown,
And tufted with an ivy grove.9
— only this happens to be the chapel of Words-
worth's fervent Methodist in Peter Bell. Very
likely it may be identified with the woodland
chapel in The Three Graves.
Is there, then, no hermit in Peter Bell ?
Wordsworth himself seems to expect one. Hav-
ing conducted his hero to a suitable glade in the
very heart of the woods, he inquires :
And is there no one dwelling here,
No hermit with his beads and glass? 10
No, there is no hermit ; none, at least, in the
ordinary sense. The sole inhabitant of this deep
and quiet spot is —
A solitary Ass.
Peter himself is surprised. It was just the place
for a real, human eremite. Wordsworth's query
supplies one of the many points of contact between
his poem and the Ancient Mariner ; for Peter Bell
is the ballad of the supernatural which Words-
worth was constrained to write when he found
himself unable to proceed conjointly with Cole-
ridge in making the Rime.
Still other poems of Wordsworth describe this
character in terms that remind us of Coleridge.
In both poets, of course, the really curious thing
about these holy men is the fact that they always
dwell in the woods. They do not perch on pil-
lars ; they are not enamored of the heath or the
sandy waste. They are lovers of shade, of ivy,
moss, and oak. They arc amateurs in the con-
templation of foliage. Thus the confessor of the
Ancient Mariner likens those sails, so thin and
sere, to
Brown skeletons of leaves that lag
My forest-brook along ;
9 Peter Bell 852-855, Poetical Works, 2. 248.
10 Peter Bell, 370-377, Poetical Works, 2. 232.
36
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 2.
and thus Wordsworth, rebelling against the com-
plicated life of London, observes that
living men
Are ofttimes to their fellow-men no more
Than to the forest Hermit are the leaves
That hang aloft in myriads.11
These lines were written in the year 1800. No
especial connection is to be traced between the
thought in them and that in the familiar sonnet
commencing :
Nuns fret not at their convent's narrow room ;
And hermits are contented with their cells ; 12
— the date of which has not been ascertained.
Nor does it seem possible to establish any precise
relation between the Inscriptions supposed to be
found in and near a Hermit's Cell (five of them
composed in 1818) and the earlier material that
we have been studying. The lines, again, For
the Spot where the Hermitage stood on St. Her-
bert's Island, Derwent- Water, which belong to
the earlier, Grasmere period, are contemporary
with the Recluse ; yet their atmosphere does not
seem closely allied to that of the Recluse or Tin-
tern Abbey. St. Herbert is interesting because
he gives a local habitation and a name to one of
Wordsworth's hermits, and because Wordsworth
knew something of his history. But as yet I see
no ground for imagining that either he or any
other particular recluse of the middle ages under-
lies the general conception in Wordsworth and
Coleridge. St. Herbert, for example, was not a
forest type ; he lived on an island.
The holy men of the type here examined appear
in Coleridge and Wordsworth chiefly in poems
written between 1797 and 1804. A final ex-
ample, representing the latter date, might be
taken from the Prelude, where Wordsworth is
relating his experiences in France during the
year 1792, when he walked along the Loire in
company with Beaupuy :
From earliest dialogues I slipped in thought,
And let remembrance steal to other times,
When, o'er those interwoven roots, moss-clad,
And smooth as marble or a waveless sea,
11 Ancient Mariner 533-534 ; Recluse 605-608, Words-
worth, Poetical Works, ed. Morley, p. 342. Cf. Iliad 6.
146-149 ; Dante, Paradiso 26. 137-138.
la Wordsworth, Poetical Works, ed. Dowden, 3. 3.
Some Hermit, from his cell forth-strayed, might pace
In sylvan meditation undisturbed.13
All these passages would gain in significance,
if we set beside them several stanzas from Spenser,
a few well-known lines from Milton, and a quota-
tion from some eighteenth-century poet — say Par-
nell. The hermit of the nineteenth-century ro-
mantic poets is necessarily in large part the
creature of tradition. How, much of him is an
inheritance, and how much is due to the origin-
ality of Wordsworth and Coleridge, may be
learned as well, perhaps, by a brief as by an
extended comparison. I would call particular
attention to the similarity between the first two
stanzas in Part vn of the Ancient Mariner and
the following stanza from the Faerie Queene :
A litle lowly Hermitage it was,
Down in a dale, hard by a forests side,
Far from resort of people that did pas
In traveill to and froe : a litle wide
There was an holy chappell edifyde,
Wherein the Hermite dewly wont to say
His holy thinges each morne and eventyde :
Thereby a christall streame did gently play,
Which from a sacred fountaine welled forth alway.14
Were there space, two passages from Milton
might be added : II Penseroso, 167-172, Comus,
385-992. There are reminiscences from both in
Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical Sonnets xxi, xxn.
We may close our list with the first six lines of
Parnell's Hermit, in many ways a fair example
of what Wordsworth is supposed to have disliked
in the age of Pope :
Far in a wild, unknown to public view,
From youth to age a reverend hermit grew ;
The moss his bed, his drink the crystal well ;
Remote from man, with God he pass'd the days,
Prayer all his business, all his pleasure praise.15
Here is artificiality with a vengeance. Yet,
after all, is not the type in Wordsworth almost
as conventional ?
LANE COOPER.
Cornell University.
13 Prelude 9. 438-443, Poetical Works, 7. 182.
" F. Q. 1. 1. 34. Compare Tasso, Ger. Lib. 8. 27, 28,
41, 42 ; Ariosto, Orl. Fur. 8. 29 ft
"Parnell, Poetical Works, Aldine Edition, p. 100.
February, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
37
TRISTAN ON THE CONTINENT BEFORE
1066.
It is now supposed that the story of Tristan was
first made known to the French, and by them to
the rest of the Continent, through the Norman
conquest of England.1 The reason for this opinion
is a negative one, and is based on the absence of
allusions to the legend, and of proper names
peculiar to it, from documents antecedent to 1066.
Yet in the records of the Norman invasion of Italy
the name of Tristan occurs more than once during
the eleventh century, and under circumstances
which do not leave any doubt regarding its
genuineness.
Towards 1075 the monk Amatus, of the con-
vent of Monte Cassino, wrote a chronicle in Latin
on the emigration of the Normans to Italy and
their fortunes in that peninsula during the next
half -century. This chronicle has disappeared, but
a translation of it, done into French during the
first quarter of the fourteenth century, has come
down to modern times, and has been edited twice
as Ystoire de li Normant.2 In this French version
we read that when Henry of Germany left lower
Italy in 1022 he handed over to his allies, the
nephews of the Greek rebel, Melos, a small body
of Normans led by a certain "Trostayne." s And
twenty years later, when Apulia was divided
among the twelve Norman chiefs who had united
to seize it, this same leader, or a homonym, re-
ceived as his share the district of Monte Peloso.4
Amatus' original has been lost, but other Latin
chronicles of events in South Italy during the
eleventh century have been saved. One of them
was written by a contemporary of Amatus, the
future bishop of Ostia, Leo de Marsico (f 1115),
and ends towards 1075, the year which saw Ama-
tus at work. Leo's narrative forms a part of the
general Chronicon monasterii Casinensis. 5 In many
details it closely resembles Amatus'. Leo also
'See J. Be"dier, Roman de Tristan, vol. n, p. 129 ; F.
Lot, Romania, xxxv, pp. 596, 597.
2 First, by the Socie'te' de PHistoire de France, and, more
recently, by the Socie^ del'Histoire deNormandie (1892).
* "Trostayne avec .xxiiij. Normant." Book I, c. 30.
4 ' ' Tristan Monte Pelouz." Book II, c. 30.
'Published by Pertz : Monumenta Germ. Hist., Scrip-
tores VII, pp. 574 fl.
mentions the band of Normans given to Melos'
nephews by Emperor Henry. He names several,
and among them is Trostayne.6 And when Apulia
is apportioned among the twelve it is again Tristan
who receives Monte Peloso.' It is evident that
Amatus and Leo are drawing 011 the same sources,
and their very fidelity is manifested by their fail-
ure to reconcile the spellings of the name. Of
course, the Trostayne of 1022 may not be the
Tristan of 1042. Leo could hardly have thought
he was, since he does not repeat his epithet of
"balbus."
The Monte Cassino chronicle was taken up
where Leo left it by Peter the Deacon, and was
continued by him to the year 1139. Peter the
Deacon was a full generation younger than Leo.
He could have had little personal knowledge of
events previous to 1100, and must have relied on
written documents for the earlier part of his his-
tory. But whatever his means of information,
they conveyed to him items connected with the
name Tristan. Under date of 1096 he speaks of
Robert, who was a son of Trosten, and again in
1109 of Robert, the son of Tristan,8 clearly the
same person. And finally, in 1122, another Tris-
tan appears.9
The evidence that among the Norman invaders
of lower Italy was found a knight called Trostayn
or Tristan seems indisputable. Indeed there may
have been two of that name. We cannot tell.
Nor do we know whether the Tristan of Monte
Peloso is the father of the Robert of 1096 and
1109. Genealogists may eventually determine
this point. But what we are warranted by the
statements of both Amatus and Leo in assuming
is, that a Norman, born not later than 1000, was
given the name of the great Celtic hero. And
we also see from their uncertain spelling, and
from the variations of Peter the Deacon, that in
6 " Torstainum balbum." Pertz, VII, p. 655 (Book II,
c. 41).
'"Tristaino Montem pilosum." Pertz, vn, p. 676
(Book n, c. 66).
8 " Eobbertus, filius Trosteni "— " Cum Kobberto, filio
Tristayni." Pertz, vn, p. 766 (Book iv, c. 11), and p.
778 (Book iv, c. 34). The editor adds in a note to the
second citation (n. 43) that other documents of the day
spell "Trostayni."
9"Trostaynus cum familia sua." Pertz, VII, p. 799
(Book iv, c. 71).
38
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 2.
Italy, at least, the pronunciation of that name
wavered throughout the eleventh century between
Trosta^n and Tristayn, with the balance inclining
towards the former. Since Peter the Deacon calls
the last one of the family he mentions Trostayn,
and since he is speaking of a contemporary (the
date is of 1122), we may well believe that this pro-
nunciation had become the established one. This
view would be fortified by the testimony of other
records, alluded to by the editor of Pertz.10 Now
some twenty years ago or more Ferdinand Lot made
the suggestion that the French poems on Tristan
give that form only because of a fancied etymology
with the adjective triste. This idea of Lot's re-
ceives its first confirmation from Amatus, Leo and
especially from Peter the Deacon."
Still the presence of one (or two) Norman
knights named Tristan before the middle of the
eleventh century may not mean any more than
that fact. The Normans knew the name, had
known it since 1000 at the latest. They may
have known nothing of the legend. It is probable
that the name came to them through an intermar-
riage with some Breton in the tenth century, and
as an isolated instance. Or the ancestor who gave
the name may have crossed the Channel directly
from Wales or Cornwall, without passing through
Armorican territory. That is, a Northern Celt
bearing a Celtic name would have emigrated to
Normandy and have founded a family there. He
may have brought the legend with him and he
may not. And in the case of an intermarriage
with a Breton, the legend may have gone with
the name, and it may not. Amatus and Leo
tell us .that the Normans knew the name two
generations at least before they conquered Eng-
land. As to the story, they are silent.
F. M. WARREN.
Yale University.
10 See note 8 above.
"That Trostayn (Drostan) and Tristan are the same
word was established by H. Zimraer, in Zeilschrift fur fran-
zosiche Sprache und Literatur, xui, pp. 58 ff. ; cf. Beclier,
Roman de Tristan, vol. n, pp. 106ft Did Chretien de
Troyes take advantage of the two pronunciations to create
beside the hero Tristan (firec 1248) another Tristan, "qui
onques ne rist " (fcrec 1713), or had popular etymology
not yet completed its task, so that the sorrowful Tristan,
begotten by the misfortunes of the Celtic Tristan, still
enjoyed a shadowy existence, apart from his progenitor ?
THE FIRST FOLIO OF SHAKESPEARE,
AND THE NEW ENGLISH
DICTIONARY.
The First Folio edition of Shakespeare's Plays
is, as Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps has said, the most
interesting and valuable book in the whole range
of English literature. It is the sole authority for
twenty of the plays, and for the rest is still
regarded by critics as, in the main, the most
authentic text, the nearest approach, in spite of
errors and imperfections, to what Shakespeare
actually wrote. The editors, John Heminge and
Henry Condell, were Shakespeare's friends and
fellow-actors, whose names appear along with his
in the printed list of actors. The Dedication,
addrest "to William Earle of Pembroke and Philip
Earle of Montgomery," is in the obsequious style
of the titae, which continued in vogue until 1755,
when Dr. Johnson by his famous letter to the
Earl of Chesterfield, on the publication of his dic-
tionary, gave the death-blow to patronage. Here
is a sample of "The Epistle Dedicatorie " : "For,
when we valew the places your H. H. (High-
nesses) sustaine, we cannot but know their dig-
nity greater, then to descend to the reading of
these trifles ; and, while we name them trifles, we
have depriv'd our selves of the defence of our
Dedication." In their address "To the great
Variety of Readers" the editors say :
' ' It had bene a thing, we confesse, worthie to
have bene wished, that the Author himselfe had
liv'd to have set forth, and overseen his owne
writings ; But since it hath bin ordain' d other-
wise, and he by death departed from that right,
we pray you do not envie his Friends, the office
of their care, and paine, to have collected and
publish' d them ; and so to have publish' d them,
as where (before) you were abus'd with diverse
stolne, and surreptitious copies, maimed, and de-
formed by the frauds and stealthes of injurious
impostors, that expos' d them ; even those, are
now offer' d to your view cur'd, and perfect of
their limbes ; and all the rest, absolute in their
numbers, as he conceived them. Who, as he was
a happie imitator of Nature, was a most gentle
expresser of it. His mind and hand went to-
gether : and what he thought, he uttered with
that easinesse, that wee have scarse received from
him a blot in his papers."
February, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
39
This would seem to imply that the plays in
the First Folio were printed from Shakespeare's
original manuscripts. It may possibly be true
of some of the author's latest productions, such
as The Tempest, tho Sidney Lee is of the opinion
that the whole volume was printed from the acting
versions in the possession of the manager of the
company with which Shakespeare had been asso-
ciated, and thinks it doubtful that any play was
printed exactly as it came from his pen.
Halliwell-Phillipps names the plays in the First
Folio, including Hamlet, Lear, Othello, and others,
that were edited from stage copies, "playhouse
transcripts." Mr. Churton Collins, in his recent
Studies in Shakespeare, speaking of the manner in
which the editors of the First Folio did their
work, declares that Hunter scarcely exaggerated
when he said that, in the whole annals of typog-
raphy, there is no record of any book of import-
ance having been dismissed from the press with
less care and attention. Professor Dowden says,
in his edition of Hamlet, it is unquestionable that
the copy for the Quarto of 1603 — and there is
much evidence that the same thing may be said
of later Quartos — was surreptitiously obtained by
a short-hand writer who, according to a practice
of the time, was employed to take notes during a
theatrical performance.
With these preliminary remarks, I now proceed
upon a comparison of the text of the Quartos with
that of the First Folio, to point out (1) errors
found in the First Folio text of Hamlet, which
seem to be due to the failure of the short-hand
writer to understand clearly what he heard, and
(2) errors due to the incompetence or carelessness
of copyists ; in other words, errors of the ear, and
errors of the eye. The following passages will
illustrate some of the errors of the short-hand
writer :
"And a most instant Tetter bak' d about,
Most Lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust,
All my smooth Body." (i, 5, 76.)
All the Quartos have bark'd, which is, of course,
the right word here. The mistake is easily ac-
counted for when we recall that the sound of a in
bake was the same as in bark (see Ellis's Early
English Pronunciation), and there is "much
reason to suspect," according to Ellis, " a use of
vocal r similar to that now in vogue" (p. 974),
but he admits there is no positive authority for
such a conclusion.
A similar error occurs in II, 1, 68 :
' ' Your bait of falshood, takes this Cape of
truth," where the Quartos have carp ; and
another in in, 4, 190 :
' ' That I essentially am not in madnesse,
But made in craft."
The Quartos and later Folios have mad. And
again in u, 2, 220 :
"And that they have a plentifull locke of
Wit, together with weake Hammes."
where the Quartos have lack and most weak. Com-
pare with these Hamlet's pun in mousetrap (trap)
and tropically. "Sallied flesh " of Quartos 1, 2,
for solid of the Folio. " No fairy takes " of the
Quartos, where the Folio has talks, horrors (har-
rows) and totters (tatters) of Q. 1, and so forth.
Other errors of the ear due to similarity of
sound are seen in the following passages :
" No, let the Candied tongue, like absurd pompe,
And crooke the pregnant Hindges of the knee."
(m, 2, 64.)
The Quartos have "tongue lick" with which
like coincided in sound (see Victor's Shakespeare' s
Pronunciation).
"With thoughts beyond Ihee; reaches of our Soules."
(i, 4, 39. )
where all the Quartos have "the reaches."
" Madam, it so fell out, that certain Players
We ore-wrought on the way." (ill, 1, 20.)
The Quartos have raught, the old preterite of
reach ; o' err aught meaning overtook.
"The censure of the which One, must in your allowance
o'reway a whole Theater of Others " (in, 2, 28).
for o'erweigh of the Quartos. This, however,
may be a variant spelling.
"Your fat King, and your leane Begger is but variable
service to dishes, but to one Table" (iv, 3, 30).
The Quartos read : ' ' variable service, two dishes,
but to one table."
40
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 2.
"I have bin sizteeene heere, man and Boy thirty yearea"
(v, 1, 163).
for "sexton" of the Quartos.
" I have some rites of memory in this kingdorne "
(v, 2, 387).
for ' ' rights ' ' of the Quartos.
" In few, Ophelia,
Doe not beleeve his vowes ; for they are Breakers,
Not of the eye, which their Investments show"
(1,3,133).
"But who, O who, had seen the inobted Queen"
(ii, 2, 525).
for mobled of the Quartos.
"'Tis too much prov'd, that with Devotions visage,
And pious Action, we do surge o're
The divell himselfe" (in, 1, 54).
The reading of the Quartos is sugar, which is, of
course, what Shakespeare wrote.
' ' I have heard of your pratlings too well enough.
God has given you one pace, and you make your selfe
another" (m, 1, 153),
The Quartos have that dye (die). This, most
likely, was caught by the ear of the short-hand for paintings and face of the Quartos.
writer as that eye, which in copying he changed
to the eye. That dye is the right word will be
That neyther having the accent of Christians, nor the
gate of Christian, Pagan, or Norman" (in, 2, 33).
shown later on where the whole passage is ex- Quartog . nor
plained in the light of the New English Dictionary.
" Fixt on the Somnet of the highest Mount" (in, 3, 21 ),
with wliich compare
' I hold my dutie as I hold my Soule,
Both to my God, one to my gracious King "
(ii, 2, 52).
"What if it tempt you toward the Floud my Lord ?
Or to the dreadful Sonnet of the Cliff e" (i, 4, 57).
All the Quartos have and, which, of course, is the
right reading. Dr. Furness, in the Variorum, Rowe's emendation of summit in both places has
makes this comment : " Dyce truly says that the been accepted by all later editors. For the very
attempts to explain the error, one, of the Folio common practice of representing the u sound by
have proved unsuccessful." I venture to offer an o, before m and n, compare woman, son, wont, etc.
explanation. The Elizabethan pronunciation of
one, without the initial sound of w, might easily
be mistaken for and, in which the d would be
silent before to [an(d) to], leaving «n(d) equal lke for Pelican of the Quartos and
to <m(e). Compare the Elizabethan similarity of
sound also in the preposition on, as in " fell on
sleep " (Bible, A. V. 1611), and an, as in " to for rit,and Of the Quartos,
stand an end" (Hamlet, i, 5, 24). Something
like this old sound of one still survives in the
speech of the illiterate, as in " young uns ' '
(young ones) and "you uns" (you ones), Mid-
dle English, ye ons.
"And like the kinde Life-rend' ring Politician"
(iv, 5, 153).
later Folios.
"A very riband in the cap of youth" (iv, 7, 85),
" To keepe my name ungorg'd" (v, 2, 205),
for ungored of the Quartos.
The mistakes of copyists and printers, mistakes
of the eye, may be seen in the following examples
selected out of a large number :
" The first rowe of the Pans Chanson " (n, 2, 447).
where the Quartos have pious, except the First,
which has "godly ballet."
And in the same speech : "Thy face is valiant,"
where the Quartos have valanced.
" Now is he to take Geulles" (n, 2, 482).
for total gules (one red) of the Quartos.
"And where 'tis so, th' Offenders scourge is weigh'd
But neerer the offence" (iv, 3, 8).
All the Quartos have never.
"And there isPaconcies, that's for Thoughts" (IV, 5, 185)
for pansies of the Quartos. A common spelling
of the word was paunces, as in the Faerie Queen,
and so the mistake was not so wide of the mark
as it seems.
Words are sometimes left out that are necessary
to the sense or the metre : " and there is a kinde
confession in yourlookes " (n, 2, 309). Quartos :
"kind of confession."
February, 1909.]
MODEBN LANGUAGE NOTES.
41
"But thou wouldest not thinke how all heere about my
heart" (v, 2, 163).
Quartos : "How ill all's heere about my heart."
Most careless of all are the errors arising from
the confusion of loug 5 with / :
''A Villaine killes my Father, and for that I his foule
Sonne, do this Villaine send to heaven" (in, 3, 84).
The reading of the Quartos is sole son. Other
examples are : " But sost " (v, 1, 216), for soft ;
"to speake tellingly of him" (v, 2, 116), for
feelingly. Inexcusable negligence is seen also in
the following: "like most" (n, 2, 379), for
most like; "his Mother Clossets" (iv, 1, 38),
for his mother's closet ; " That drop of blood, that
calmes, " for that's calm.
Similar examples of errors of all kinds might
easily be multiplied, but these must suffice. The
first four Quartos of Hamlet appeared in the
following order: First (1603), Second (1604),
Third (1605), Fourth (1611), and later a Fifth,
undated. The question, why the First Folio
Samlet was printed by the editors from a text
notably inferior to that of the Quartos, with the
exception of the First, remains unanswered.
The First Folio is now being reprinted under
the editorship of Miss Charlotte Porter and Miss
Helen Clarke, the editors of Poet Lore. The
publishers are Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., New
York. Nearly a dozen of the plays have already
appeared. In this paper I shall confine my re-
marks to one of the later issues, Hamlet, which I
have carefully examined. The least satisfactory
part of the editorial work appears in ' ' Literary
Illustrations, ' ' in the interpretation of obscure or
doubtful passages, where old blunders are repeated
with amazing credulity, without one ray of light
from the New English Dictionary. Now in the
matter of interpretation which hinges upon the
meaning of words in Elizabethan English, the
scholarship of no one critic, however learned, can
safely be set above the combined scholarship of
the makers of this dictionary, the greatest work
ever attempted in English philology. Hamlet's
first speech is a play upon words : "A little more
then kin, and less then kinde." The note on this
is as follows : "More than uncle, less than child.
The elder and the younger Booth and Forrest
showed in the suspicious and ironical tone of this
retort upon the king's venturing to call him ' son '
the peculiar double use of kinde in the sense of
' child ' and ' kindness. ' According to Kate
Field, Fechter started at the king's my sonne.
Wilson Barnett pronounced the word kinde with
a short ' i ' as in the German word for child, as
it is still also pronounced in this sense in the
provinces of England. The proverbial sense of
kindness, here grimly puuned on, is exemplified,
also, in Lyly's 'Mother Bombie ' (1594), quoted
by Steevens : ' the greater the kindred is, the less
the kindness must be'; and ' Gorboduc (1561):
'In kinde a father, but not kindelynesse. ' Ac-
cording to report, the elder Booth sobbed audibly
at the king's words, and made this answer with
extreme bitterness."
It would be interesting to know what authority
there is for the statement that kind is used in the
sense of child in the provinces of England. What
provinces ? There is no hint in the New English
Dictionary or in Wright's English Dialect Dic-
tionary that the word was ever so used. It was
one of the wildest vagaries of Dr. Johnson that
Shakespeare used here the German word Kind
for child. Kind is etymologically _allied to kin,
and there is good authority for the statement that
the vowel sound of the two words was similar,
that is, kind had its older sound rhyming with
wmd(n).1 With "more than kin" compare
"uncle-father" (n, 5, 405), and with "less
than kind," "lecherous, kindless villain" (ir,
2, 604). The perfection of Shakespeare's lan-
guage is due, in a large measure, to the necessity
of making it level to the comprehension of the
general public, of little or no education, who made
up mainly his audiences, and that he should have
here used the German word for child, even if he
himself were acquainted with it, is inconceivable.
This side remark of Hamlet's is, I take it, a
reflection on Claudius.
1 See Ellis's Early English Pronunciation, Part I, (page
116): "Ben Jonson (1640), like Bullokar (1580), en-
tirely ignores the diphthongal character of long i." And
page 277 : "Through the kindness of several gentlemen
I am enabled to say that in South Shields, Kendal, West-
moreland, and Cumberland generally, and parts of Lan-
cashire, the short vowel (i) is still heard in the words
bind, blind a, behind, hinder a, hindmost, find, grind,
wind v."
42
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 2.
" In few, Ophelia,
Doe not beleeve his vows ; for they are Breakers,
Not of the eye, which their Investments show ;
But mere implorators of unholy Sutes,
Breathing like sanctified and pious bonds,
The better to beguile " (i, 3, 137).
Here is the note on this passage :
"Hamlet's vows, says Polonius, are not like
brokers who show their investments and put their
money out before the eye, but like pleaders of
crafty lawsuits who breathe out pious phrases like
the religious formulas of their legal papers, the
better to beguile. ' In the name of God, Amen,'
was the common opening form of bonds. The
figure is in the same vein as that already made by
Polonius in his contrast between true pay in star-
ling coin and tenders, or mere promises to pay. ' '
The N. E. D., under Broker gives :
"4. A go-between or intermediary in love af-
fairs . . . Also a procurer, pimp, bawd ; a pander
generally." Under Investment: "1. The act
of putting clothes or vestments on ; clothing ;
robes, vestments." The passage above is quoted,
and another from II Hen. iv, 4, 1 :
"You Lord Archbishop,
Whose white Investments figure innocence."
Bonds is, presumably, for marriage bonds, as
elsewhere.
The note on mortall coile (in, 1, 76) is as
follows :
" That which winds us around, but is separable
from us and subject to decay. It is necessarily
conceived of as an incasing series of external
spiral rings, i. e., exactly the word used, coil, the
noun, derived from the old French verb coillir,
in its primary sense, to wind cylindrically, as a
rope, a grape-tendril, or a snake, with its figur-
ative suggestions of the serpent's coil and the skin
it writhes from and shuffles off, like the encase-
ment on all sides encircling and harassing the
permanent inward being. So in Mer. of Ven.,
v, 1, 73-5, the muddy vesture of decay Doth
grossly close in the hannonie that is in immortall
soules."
Under coil,1 the N. E. D. gives : "Mortal coil :
The bustle or turmoil of this mortal life. A
Shakespearian expression which has become a
current phrase." Compare Scott's Lord of the
Isles :
" Where rest from mortal coil the mighty of the Isles."
" Of unknown origin " (N. E. D.).
"And (an) anchors cheere in prison be my
scope" (in, 2, 238) — bracketed, with the line
preceding, because not in the original Folio — is
explained as "Anchorite's fare," a possible inter-
pretation, but the N. E. D., under Anchor, gives
cheere = chair, which suits well with scope. Com-
pare also Bishop Hall's Satires (rv, 2, 103):
"Sit seaven yeares pining in an anchores cheyre."
The meaning, then, is "an anchoret's chair."
Strangely enough, errors both of ear and eye,
already pointed out in this paper, are gravely
treated as genuine and accepted text: — " Pons
Chanson : Literally, a bridge song, ponts neufs
being the phrase (see Larousse ' Nouveau Dic-
tionaire de la Langue Francaise') for popular
songs on a familiar air, such as were sold in Paris
on the bridge called the Pont Neuf."
" To take Guelles : 'Gules,' the term used in
heraldry for red, meaning here blood-smeared.
Possibly 'total,' adopted from the Quartos in the
modernized text, may be a repetition of a mis-
print taken from the blundering Quarto of 1603,
which also prints totall, and to take may be what
the poet meant ; that is, Pyrrhus, whose Sable
Armes were Blacke as his purpose, is to take blood-
red or gules for his colors now, a Heraldry more
dismall, instead of black. ' '
" inobled : The word mobled, adopted from the
Quartos (including the untrustworthy 1 Q. ) and
given in the modernized text, labors under the
disadvantage of meaning something definite, i. e.,
veiled or wrapped up, as appears from the use of
the word in Sandys's 'Travells': ' Turkish wo-
mens heads and faces are so mobled in fine linnen
that no more is seen of them then their eyes.'
Hence the wonder of Hamlet is not called for and
the approval of Polonius has no point, if mobled
be substituted, and that might be the reason why
the words of Polonius are left out in the Quartos
(including 1 Q. ). Ino bled suggests 'un-nobled'
or degraded in mien with enough uncertainty to
make Hamlet wonder and Polonius approve al-
though out of sheer emptiness, and to atone for
his recent critical error (1, 521)."
February, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
43
' ' Norman : Turke is substituted in 1 Q. Man
in 2 Q. seems pointless. The Northman or Nor-
man of the Middle Ages, the next door neighbor
of the Dane, might well seem to Hamlet to belong
to a third class, if not Christianized, yet not a
pagan, in the sense of belonging neither to the
time before Christ nor to the Greek or Roman
world."
"foule : To accuse himself as a foule son for
such unfair requital of his father's murder is
much more to the point here than to assert that
he is a sole son."
I have reserved for the last the comments on
the long speech of twenty lines immediately pre-
ceding the famous ' ' dram of eale ' ' crux, not in
the original Folio, but inserted here from the
Quartos, and hence bracketed :
" So oft it chaunces in particuler men,
That for some vicious mole of nature in them
As in their birth wherein they are not guilty,
that these men
Carrying I say the stamp of one defect
Being Natures livery, or Fortunes starre,
His (their) vertues els be they as pure as grace,
As infinite as man may undergoe,
Shall in the general censure take corruption
From that particuler fault : the dram of eale
Doth all the noble substance of a doubt
To his owne scandle."
The editor's comments are :
"Natures livery, or Fortunes Starre : That is,
men of virtue clothed in the uniform or livery of
the race they are born into, who are, for example,
born Danes, or fated by their star to be classed as
Danes, are in the judgment of the world all blem-
ished by this one defect, falling upon them in gen-
eral by Nature or Fortune, not by their own char-
acters as individuals."
Can "Natures livery" mean anything more
than heredity 1 And in the plain prose of the
present day would not ' ' heredity or environ-
ment ' ' cover the meaning of the more poetic
"Nature's livery or Fortune's star?"
"dram of eale ... of a doubt : Meaning the
dram of eale (evil or reproach) doth (doeth or
effecteth) the substance (substantialness or essen-
tialness) of a doubt to all the noble (all those who
are noble, or all that which is noble)."
" his owne scandle : His refers to the noble, and
may be equivalent to ' its,' the masculine form of
the possessive pronoun being applied to the sub-
ject, whether masculine or not, before the im-
personal possessive ' its ' grew into common use.
Owne scandle conveys the sense not only of slander
because of this particular fault, but also abhor-
rence of it, scandalization at it."
With this compare Professor Dowden's lucid
interpretation in his recent edition of Hamlet :
" the dram of eale (evil) Doth all the noble sub-
stance of (out of) a (mere) doubt (or suspicion)
To his (its) own (substance) scandal (degrade in
reputation)." Eale is not recorded at all in the
N. E. D. , but that it is for evil is made evident
by deale, in the same Quartos for devil, with
which compare deil. Scandal is so used, as a
verb, in four other passages in the plays.
Now if for of a doubt we read out o' doubt (un-
doubtedly), a frequent Shakesperian locution, we
have the sense complete, for "the stamp of one
defect" is not a matter of doubt or suspicion.
For a = o', of, compare "out adores" (n, 1,
109), for out of doors, and "tickled a th' sere"
(11, 2, 354), for tickle o' the sere. And surely
at a time when such misprints as one for and,
and for as, for for our, were common, of for out
would be a small offense.
EDWARD A. ALLEN.
University of Missouri.
FRANZ VON SICKINGEN'S APPEAL TO
THE GERMAN NATION.
Sickingen addresses himself in this pamphlet l
to all the members of the German nation from
the princes down to the citizens and peasants to
defend himself against the accusation of having
attempted a general uprising of the lower classes,
especially the peasants or as the German phrase
used in those days has it : einen Buntschuh zu
erregen. At the same time he gives his reasons
for his feud with the archbishop of Trier who he
thinks is responsible for all his troubles. He also
1 Cp. E. Kiick, Schriftstdlcmde Adlige der Reformalions-
zeit. I. Sickingen und Landschad. Kostock, 1894.
44
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 2.
explains why the League at London was formed
at his instigation and under his leadership. He
claims to have stood up for right and justice for
all, even the lowest, and he protests against the
attempt of the princes of Trier, Pfalz and Hessen
to drive him out of his territory and to treat him
like an outlaw.
The free knights of the Empire he asks whether
they realize that it will mean certain ruin to all
of them if the princes who united against him
should succeed in crushing him, the strongest
advocate of the rights and privileges of that once
so honored and important class. In the struggle
of the independent knights against the more
powerful princes of the Holy Roman Empire of
the German Nation this is, of course, one of the
most interesting but also one of the very saddest
chapters. The outcome of the struggle could
easily be foreseen.
EHNST Voss.
University of Wisconsin.
AUSZ SCHEEIBEN VND VEEANNTWUBTUNG FsAN-
CISCUS VON SlGKINGEN / VFF RuGKLICH VER-
CLAGEN / EEDICHT ANGEBEN VNND VNBILLICH
VEEUNGLIMPFUNG SEINEE WIDEEWEBTIGEN
VNND MISZGUNDEE. 1522.
Allen vnnd yeden / Churfursten Fiirsten gaist-
lichen vnnd weltlichen Prelaten grauen Freyen
heren Riter vnnd knechten / hauptleiiten schult-
heissen Burgermaistern Richtern Raeten / Bur-
gern gemeinden / vnnd sonst alien anndern in
was wirden stats oder wesens die seien / Denen
diese gschrifft fur kumpt / sehen / oder hoeren
lesen / Embeiit ich Frantziscus vonn Sigkingen
zu°uor mein vnterthenigen willigen vnd friint-
lichen dienst.
Mich langt gewisz vnnd glaublichen an / wie
das merertail allenthalben im Reich von mir
auszschell vnnd ingebildet werd / als ob ich sampt
etlichen des willens vnd fiirnemens ainenn Bunclt-
schu°ch zu°machen / vnnd zu° erwegenn / Nw sag
ich Frey vnuerdingt / welcher mir soellichs
zu°legt / Redt oder auszgibt / der selb sey was
stands er woell / das er es auff mich faelschlich
verreterlich erdicht vnd leugt / kan nit gedengken
was doch einichen dahin beweg soelliche clare
offenbare lu°gen vszzu°giessen / zu° dem hoff ich
mengelich aller meiiier bekanten wissen / Das ich
von meiner Jugend bis auff gegewirtigenn tag /
einich vrsach argkwons oder verdachts zu° soelli-
chem nie gegeben / Aber woelhin ich mu°sz be-
schechen lassen / es ist lecht yetz an mir / hasz
neid vnnd anders seyn dessen vrsacherm / wie ich
nachuolgend melden will.
Dann ob man mir darumb das ich den Ertz-
bischoff zu° Trier / nach uberfliissiger zeitlicher
verwarung mit meinen herren / friinden vnd gesel-
len / von grauen herren Ritterschafft knechten
kriegszleuten zu° rosz vnnd fu°sz / fast alle vmb ire
besoldung iiberzogen / laster eins Bundtschu°chs
zumessenn wolt / mag sich mit keinichem schein
darzu0 vergleichen / dann ich gedachtem Ertz-
bischoff vmb hoecher beweglichen eins teils wider
gott / Kay. Ma. hochait / alien Teutschen gelauben
vnnd erberkait zu° iiermindern / vnnd ander mer
vrsachenn / meinn offentlich verwarung zu°ge-
schigkt hon / Welcher innhalt so ich wie billich
gewest vmb soelche meine handelung Citiert wor-
den were / dargethonn vnd bewieszen haben woelt /
vnnd nochmals vor gleichmessigen onparthey-
lichen Richtern zu°thu°n erbiet.
Hab auch zu° soclchem meinem zu°gk nit
Bundschu°chs gebocfels gsind oder das man dahin
vermuten vnd achten mo°cht / gebraucht / su°nder
sollich Erlich von hochem auch gemeinem adel
vnnd Kriegsuolgk denen ob ich schonn so vnteur
wer / man ein sollichs nit zu°legen oder nachreden
solt / darumb ab sollichem meinem thu°n kain
vrsach nach verdacht einichs Bundtschu°chs ge-
nomen oder geschoepft werden mag.
Wolt man aber ausz dem vrsach oder ver-
mutung eius sollichen lasters nemen / das ver-
gangenn Sommers etlich von der Ritterschafft/
sich zu°samen beschriben mit einander vnderret /
wie weg zu°finden / das wir vnns nachpewrlich
vnnd friintlich aller Irrungen vnnd spaenn /
Vergleichen vnd vertragen moechten nit also
inn weytleuffig vnentlich onerhoclich ongeleiche
Rechtfertigung begeben miisten / auff das wir
dester f ridlicher vnnd eintrechtigtlicher / mit ein-
ander lebten / mag ye dasselbig dahin nit ver-
standen werden dann ich soellichs zu°uerantwurten
darzu0 oder daruon abzu°thun weder mindern
noch meren will / Dann das alles on hel / offenbar
gescheen/vnd in trugk ausz gangen/auch kainer
gerechtigkait billicheit / noch einichem hohem
oder niderm stand zu° wider oder abbriichlich
sonder zu° frid einigkait vnnd friintlicher nach-
paurschafft dienenn / wie das ausz verlesung seins
iunhalts erscheindt / dar auff ich rnichs ziehe/ gantz
vngezweyfelter zu°uersicht / niemans verstencligs
vnd erbers gemiiets dasselbig schelten / In args
Aii
ausz legen oder versteen moege / Es weren dann
die ihenigen so mit anderer leu't verderben/
zengken / hadereyen / Vnd onentlichem des Rech-
tenn gebrauch sich zu°reichen / auch ire gewaltig
vnd vnbillich hendel durchzu°dringen vermeinen
vnd das mit der that vnderstenn.
Darumb mir ye so°llichs deszhalben nit zu°ge-
legt werden mag / Es hat aber meins achtens
vmb obgeriirte meiner person beschuldigen vnnd
Rugklich einbilden gar vil ein ander gestalt / Dan
February, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
45
mir soellichs Bundtschu°chs laster auch ander
iibels von meinen vngnedigen herren vnd deren
anhengern erdichtlich sender grund einicher
warhait zu°gelegt wirdet / vermeinende mich da-
mit inn aller des Reichs steende / vngnad vnnd
widerwillen ziifiirn einig ausz hasz vnd neid / vnd
nit das sy mich vmb etwas vnerbers noch vnge-
rechts neiden / sender das sie dardurch in andere
ein soellichen schregken vnnd vorcht bringen/
damit sie dester statlicher ir gewaltsam vnbillich
beschwerden / die doch weder got noch menschen /
in that dulden moegen gegen menigtlich dem
sie mit der that iiberlegen es seyen grauen herren
Hitter audere vom Adel / Stet / Burger / oder ge-
paurn / wie das yetz offenbar am tag erscheint /
hin ausz bringen.
Wiewol ich nun vonn meinen uerstendigen
tagen alweg ein gleichmessigs erbers vnd ausz-
treglich Reeht gern gesehen / vnd meins ver-
moegeus / darzu0 geholffen haet / So das in meinem
beuelch oder thun gewest were / onn woelchs der
friden nit bestendig / auch offt von armer ver-
triigkter vnd uergewacltigter wegen mein armu°t
leib vnd vermogen Inn fare gesetzt vnnd dero
etwan vielen zu°r billichait verholffen / Das / das /
das / ist einig die vrsach / hasz vnd neids / meiner
vnguedigen herrn / welche vmb etlich vil ir hendel
weder billichs ausztracglichs oder enntlichs Recht
leydeiin moegen / sonder einig sich vnndersteen irs
selbs geursachten verderbens / mit newen aufsetzen
vnd beschwerden als zoll vnnd anders wider zu°
erholen / darinn auch mit onwiderbringlichem
schaden irer armen sich zu°reichen / Vnd in
sollichem weder derselben noch auch irer an-
stoesser hocches oder niders stands / wen sie iiber-
moegen / verschonen.
Ir eius tails haben auch ausz vnersetlichem
gemiiet in dem weder zyl noch masz / Sonder
vndernemcn sich Newer vngehoerter Tirranni-
schen sachen / als nemlich Pfaltzgraf Ludwig
Churfiirst welcher yetzund wider alles erbar vnd
billichait einig ausz vnuerschulten vngnadenn / so
er gegen denen von der Ritterschafit tregkt etlich
vil vom Adel deren voraeltern vnd sie alzeit zu°
der Pfalz ir leib sterben vnd verderben triiwlich
vnd Eerlich dargestreckt / Darumb auch kainen
gewin bgert / sunderlich in letster Bayerischen
Vhed da Pfaltz durch Bacpstliche vnnd Kayser-
liche richtliche spruch in Bann vnd acht erkant /
darzu0 den merentail aller stennd des Reichs ir
mit kriegszaufru°r vnnd thaetlicher handelung
entgegen gewest vnd sich deszmals kains gewins
zu°uerhoffen / sonder sterbens vnnd verderbens
gwiszlich zu° uersehen was / haben aber doch
Pfaltz durch ire getrewe dienst bestendig vnd
manlichs bleiben bey dem ihenigen so sie noch
hat / behalten / vnder denen ich derzeit auch ge-
west/vnd gedachter Pfaltz halben ob die vier-
tausend guldin mit Brand vnnd nam schaden
empfangen / dessen ich doch nie pfening oder
heller erstattung begert / Aber dis yetzig der
Pfaltz fiirnemen ist annderer vom Adel vnd
mein dagegen belonung Wann sollichs unange-
sehen / hat er ausz denselbigen vorgemelten / von
der Ritterschafit vil eius tails meiner gesiepten
f riind / auch ander gu°t giinder vnd gesellen vmb
das er sich vermu°ttet sie mir zu° Eren vnnd
Recht gunst fruntschafft vnd gu°ten willen tragen
eruordert / etlich sich ziischaetzen zu° uerbinden /
mich vnnd die meinen zu°uerloben / das ir zu°be-
schwernn / eins tails ire hab vnnd gu°ter gewal-
tigtlich genomen auch eins tails ausz denen ir
Aiij
anerstorben ererbte gerechtigkait vnnd vor-
drung / betreugklich vor Pfaltz vnd dero Raeten /
inn Recht hangend zu°begeben vnnd daruon
gentzlich abzu°steen gedrungen / ausz vrsachen
das dieselbigen gerechtigkaiten Pfaltz zu° nu°tz
vnnd erweiterung irer oberkait dienen / vnder
welchen doch der merertail als ich bey verliist
meiner seelenn hail behalten mag / mir zu° solli-
chem meinem fiirnemen / weder hilff noch Rat
gethon / sonder dero auch vil / als ich glaub dessen
kain wissens noch einichen willen oder gefallens
darab gehabt/ausz dem claerlich erscheinnt was
fiirstlicheu gemu°ts Pfaltz gegen den getrewen
vonn der Ritterschafft / die ime nie args oder leids
erzaigt / sonder wie fornen gemelt trewlich ge-
dient/vnd zu° was landtfridens Erberkait oder
billichait er beflissen sey / Ist aber ein sollichs /
die von der Ritterschafft vuuerschuldt zu°aigen
vnd slauen zu°machen / das ir abzu°dringen / vnnd
die sachen dahin zu°ziehen das kainer was stands
er sey /Dem andern zu°r billichait Rat hilff oder
furderung thun toerfft / der Land/ride schigk sich
Pfaltz yetz nit iibel demselben gemesz zu° halten /
Euwer Churfurstliche gnad / gnad / vnnd gunst
konnenn auch ermessen vnnd bewegen was durch
der dreyer vereinten fiirsten meiner vngnedigen
herren / Nemlich Trier Pfaltz / vnnd Hessen /
vornemen vnnd handelung gesu°cht wiirt / der
fiirhaben dahin gericht ist /mich onuerhoert vnd
onerlangt einichs Rechten / zu°ueriagen / doch nit
ausz Erbern vrsachen / noch zu° warem friden /
vnd gerechtigkeit denenn wie obgehort / sunder
einig Ir gewaltsam betranglich auff gelegte be-
schwerden vnd ongerechts f urnemen / Irs geual-
lens desto statlicher durch zu°dringen vnnd zu°
beschutzenn / das wil ich als ein armer Edelman
got beuelhen /der schaff vnd wurck dar ausz sein
glori' vnd lob / vnd kan mcniglich ab irer vnbil-
lichen gewaltigen betranglichen handlung so sie
gegen dem loblichen stiefft Meintz onu°ersehen-
lich vnd vnuerschuldt/ wider alles hoches mer dan
vberflussigs genugsams ziiuerhorte vnd Recht er-
bietten geubt clarlich abnemen / vnd versteen zu°
was erbarem vnd billichem Ir gemute gericht
seinn / Mit hochster vnderthenigster dienstlichen
46
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 2.
vnd freuntlichen bitt .E. Chu°r. F. G. gnaden
vnd gunst / wellen sie ausz erzelten vrsachen /
durch meine widerwertigen mir zii keinen vngna-
den bewegen lassen / noch ob ich ye ausz notturft
irem gewalt souil gott gnad verleihe zu°begegnen
vnd mich desselbigen zu°entsetzen / Rat vnd weg
su°chen wird / des kein vngnad noch mlszfallens
zu' tragen vnd euch von der Ritterlschaflt bitt ich
zu' hertzen zu°fassen vnnd zu°bedencken / Wo sol-
lichs der obgemelten Fiirsten / vnd deren anhan-
genden gewaltigs ongerechts vornemen durch
tringe vnnd sie iren fiirgefasten willen erlangten /
was beschwerlichs vnnd vertrugklichs allem adel
darausz volg / auch zu° was verderben soellich
reich/vnnd deszhalb inen wider die Ritterschafft
noch mich nit zu° dienen sondern mir vnnd an-
dern meinen anhengern mit Kat vnnd that hilff-
lich vnnd forderlich zu°sein / auch E. Churstliche
Fiirstliche gnsaden / gnaden / vnd gonst sich der-
massen / angesehen die billicheit so gnediglich
gunstlich vnd frundtlich erzaigen / wie mein sonder
vertrawen zu° deuenn stett / Das will ich meins ver-
moegens / vmb dieselben Euwer / Churfiirstliche /
fiirstlich gnaden / gnaden / Vnnd gonst vnder-
thenigtlich dienstlich vnnd friintlich allzeit ver-
dienen denselben mich hiemit beuelchen mir
schaffen zu°gepietenn / Dattum vnder meinem vff-
gedrugckhten innsigeel Mitwochs nechst nach
Sannt Thomas des hailigen Apostels tag / da man
zalt tausent fuenfhundert vnnd zweyundzwentzig
iar.
Spuren des
Sigels.
LE SONGE VERT AND CHAUCER'S
DREAM-POEMS.
Le Songe Vert, an old French love-vision which
was edited by Professor L. Constans in Romania
33, offers some interesting resemblances, both in
essential elements and details of expression, to
Chaucer's dream-poems, especially to his first im-
portant work, the Book of the Duchesse. The poem
was written about the middle of the fourteenth
century, ' and therefore might have been known to
the English poet. It seems worth while to call
attention to the several conventional motives of
medieval love-vision poetry which are used in this
Old French poem and in Chaucer's love-visions,
and to a rather striking agreement between it and
1 See Romania 33, 499.
Chaucer's Duchesse. For parallelisms in details
of expression one must go to the poems themselves.
A brief summary of Le Songe Vert will be help-
ful. At the beginning occurs an allusion to the
year of the Black Death. The author is in great
distress ; he is deprived of all joy. One morning
at daybreak, he rises, and dressed in black, he
takes a path leading along a stream into a garden.
Here the sun shines brightly, the air is pure and
clear, the birds are singing
" Motez, chansonetes et lais,
Chescun selonc son droit langage."
The lover, however, is in great grief. He weeps
bitterly and bewails his fate. He falls flat on the
ground. Full of melancholy, he hears a bell ; it
is from an ' ' ordre de mendianz ' ' where the body
of his lady lies. He continues his complaint, which
is so sad that every man who might hear it would
have pity.
Now he falls asleep and dreams a wonderful
dream. A beautiful lady comes to him. It is
the Queen of Love. He upbraids the goddess
because she has deceived him. The goddess
speaks in her defense. The lover gives vent to
his grief again :
" Et ja ne fais jo que plorer,
Plaindre, gemir et sospirer,
Sanz avoir respit ne sojor.
Jo sai bien que si tel dolor
En deiissiez avoir eiie,
Que ja cele descovenue,
Ne me fust faite a si grant tort
Par la fausse et desloial Mort,
Que m'a oste ma douce dame ; "
(LI. 2913.)
The lover now asks the goddess why his lady
has been taken away. Wasn't she a loyal servant
of love ?
" Fortune is to blame," replies Venus :
" C'est Fortune la desloiaus,
Q.ue est fontaine de toz maus :
Cele en doit bien estre blasmee,
Car ele 1'a aprocuree,
La Mort, nuit et jor sans faintise,"
(LI. 327 fl.)
The lover says that death is his only hope.
Now Venus declares that she will give him a
wonderful gift (11. 493 ff. ). He sees before him
a beautiful lady (11. 914 ff.). The attendants of
February, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
47
Venus remove his black robe and put on the green.
Now he sees a beautiful flower, the flor de lis (11.
1019 ff.). It is the symbol of his lady. The
lover awakens by falling from the top of a tree
and finds that the beautiful flower has disap-
peared. When he reaches the inn he wishes to
put on again his black robe, but finds that it has
disappeared.
The interesting elements of this love-poem from
the point of view of a comparison with Chaucer
are :
1. The dream as a literary device.
2. The dating of the poem.
3. The author in distress.
4. His rising early and going into a garden
where the birds are singing their lays.
5. The complaint of the lover dressed in black.
6. The Queen of Love appearing to him in his
dream ; his upbraiding of the goddess
and her defense.
7. The cause of his grief : his lady has been
taken away by death. Fortune is respon-
sible for this calamity.
8. The worship of a flower which is the symbol
of the lady whom the goddess of love will
give to him.
The closest analogy that I have discovered to
the conventional complaint in the Duchesse of the
black knight over the death of his lady is this
complaint in Le Songe Vert of the lover dressed
in black for the loss of his mistress who has been
taken away by death. In the Duchesse, the poet
meets a knight dressed in black who bewails his
loss. Fortune has played falsely with him. His
lady is dead. The situation in Le Songe Vert is
almost identical. The lover wandering in a gar-
den utters his laments. He complains to Venus
about his loss, and says that death has taken away
his sweet lady. Thereupon Venus declares that
Fortune is responsible for his loss.
Whether or no, in view of the striking similar-
ity, in many respects, between this poem and
Chaucer's love-visions this close resemblance is
significant, I hesitate to say. However, if one
demands a source for this situation in the Duch-
esse, one has here, surely, a more satisfactory
answer than has heretofore been offered. A close
study of this old French love-vision has impressed
upon the writer more strongly the danger in dog-
matizing too strictly about the sources of Chau-
cer's dream -poems. Certainty, in many instances,
must yield to probability, or better, possibility.
W. OWEN SYPHEKD.
Delaware College.
ETYMOLOGICAL NOTES.
1. NHG. Bild is by some regarded as a
compound (*bi-li/>i~) of OHG. lid, Goth, li/ws
'Glied' (cf. Kluge, Et. Wb.6, 44). But the
byforms in OHG. : piladi, pilothi, pilidi, bilidi,
make this connection improbable. Falk og Torp,
Et. Ordbog i, 55 refer the word to a Germ, stem
bila- denoting ' doubleness, ' and compare ON.
billingr ' twin, ' bil ' interval, ' OHG. billlch
'billig.'
But these words hardly go back to that mean-
ing, and Bild may be otherwise explained. This
may be combined with Ir. bil, bile, Welsh byl
'Rand.' For meaning compare MHG. brem
'Rand': Lat. forma (cf. author, AJP., xxi,
178 : Walde, Et. Wb., 237). As these are re-
ferred to the primary meaning 'cut, strike,' so
also Bild, Ir. bil, etc., may be derived from bhi-
in ChSl. biti 'schlagen,' Ir. benim ' schlage,
schneide,' OE. bile 'beak, bill,' etc. (cf. Lexer,
MM. Wb. i, 273 f.). Unrelated are probably
NHG. billig, Unbill, etc. (cf. Prellwitz, Et. Wb.'
B. V. </>i'Aos. ).
2. Norw. dial, flana ' bli skamfuld eller ned-
slagen, bli flad i ansigtet,' 'beabasht, crestfallen,'
flanen ' abasht, crestfallen, ' primarily ' flat, '
agree closely with Lat. pldnus 'flat, level,' Gk.
Tre'Aavos ' Opferkuchen, ' Lith. plane ' Fladen,
Kuchen, ' plonas 'diinn,' etc., base pela-, whence
many other derivatives (cf. Walde, Et. Wb. 473
with references).
3. OE. fnees ' fringe ' (*pnosom) is either a
derivative of the base in OE. fana 'banner,'
OHG. fano 'Zeug, Tuch,' Goth, fana 'Stuck
Zeug, ' Lat. pannus, etc. , or else a blend of these
andOE. fees 'fringe,' OHG. faso, fasa 'Faser,
Franse, Einfassung, Saum des Gewandes,' which
48
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 2.
have been compared with Gk, tTracro-e ' wove '
etc. (Walde, Et. Wb. 447).
4. OE. /need ' fringe, hem (of dress) ' may
likewise be connected with Goth, ja.no, 'Stuck
Zeug.' Compare especially Gk. TTOTOS " evSvpa
•nji *Hpas (Hes.), Ir. Him, 'kleide.' We have
here the bases *pnot-, *pnt-, *pent-.
5. Sw. fnas ' Schalen (an Nusskernen), Fiiden
(an Bohnenhiilsen),' fnasa ' abschalen, abziehen,'
fnask ' Schmutz ; Kleinigkeiten ; Naschereien, '
Norw. fnas 'particles that scale off,' etc., are
compared by Tamm, Et. Ordbok 161 f., and by
Falk og Torp, Et. Ordbog i, 177 with Skt. ki-
knasa-s ' Schrot, Gries,' etc., assuming a root
(s)qnes-. I should derive Sw. fnas etc. from a
base *penes- in Av. pasnus, Skt. pasti-s ' Staub,
Sand, ' pasana-s 'besudelnd, veruuehrend, ' riming
with|jm(e)s-, pels- in Skt. pin&sti 'zerreibt, zer-
stampft,' Lat. pinso, piso 'pound, crush,' Lith.
paisyti ' (Gerste) abklopfen,' MDu. vlsel 'Mor-
ser,' OHG. fesa 'Hiilse des Getreides, Spreu,'
etc.
6. Goth, gailjan 'erfreuen,' MHG. geilen
' iibermutig, ausgelassen sein , froh werden ; tr.
froh machen ; refl. sich freuen, erlustigen ; lustig
wachsen uud wuchern, ' geil ' von wilder Kraft,
mutwillig, iippig ; lustig, frohlich,' geil 'Lustig-
keit ; lustiges Wachstum, Wucher, ' geile ' Uppig-
keit, fetter, fruchtbarer Boden ; Lustigkeit, Uber-
mut,' etc., may be related as usually given. But
as the idea of growth, luxuriance is prominent in
the Germ, words, we may also compare Gk.
XiA.os ' green fodder, forage, grass. '
As the primary meaning was probably ' spring,
spring up, about, be wanton,' we may refer all to
the base in Skt. jihlte ' springt auf, fliegt,' haya-s
' Koss, ' Lith. zdidziu ' spielen ; den Beischlaf
vollziehen, ' Lat. haidus ' kid, ' Goth, gaits ' goat, '
etc. If this connection is correct, geil must be
separated from Lith. gailUs ' scharf, atzend,
jahzornig, mitleidig,' which has velar gh- and
does not agree well in meaning with the former.
7. Goth, gairu ' Spitzpfahl, Stachel, ' probably
has ai rather than &i. Compare Norw. dial, gare
'peg, sharp stub,' gara ' stick, thrust ; hurt one-
self by stepping on a sharp stub.' These are
perhaps from yher- 'branch out, grow, etc.' in
Lett. Ja'rs 'Zweig,' \a'rut ' Aste treiben ; Strah-
len werfen,' OE. growan 'grow,' etc. (cf. Color-
Names 38, 62).
8. OE. hcefern ' crab ' no doubt received its
name from its crust-like shell. It may therefore
be compared with Skt. kapala-m 'Schale, Hirn-
schale, Schadel,' OE. hafola 'head,' Lat. caput,
etc. Perhaps here also OHG. hafan 'Topf.'
For meaning compare Lat. testa ' earthen pot,
pitcher ; potsherd ; shell of a shell-fish ; shell-fish
itself; skull,' French ttte.
9. OE. hrcefn, hrefn ' crab ' need not be
regarded as the same as hcefern. The original
meaning was doubtless the same. Compare Skt.
karpara-s 'Schale, Scherbe, Hirnschale,' ChSl.
crepti 'Scherbe,' Euss. cerep 'Scherbe, Schadel,'
Pruss. kerpetis ' Schadel ' (cf. Uhlenbeck, Ai. Wb.
46).
Here the underlying idea is hardness, stiffness :
ChSl. kr ep-ft ' f est, stark, starr, ' Slov. kr&pen ' er-
starrt,' Slovak, krpenet 'rigescere,' ON. hrcefa
'ertragen.' Parallel to these are Skt. karkara-s
'hart,' Gk. xapicapos • rpaxw, Skt. karkafd-s
'rauh, hart': karka-s, kdrkata-s 'Krebs, Krabbe,'
Gk. KapKivos ' crab. '
10. OE. crabba 'crab,' ON. krabbe, MLG.
krabbe, etc., may likewise come from the mean-
ing 'hard, stiff': ON. krcefr 'stark, tapfer,'
kraptr 'Kraft,' etc., Norw. krav 'Eisrinde,'
' crust of ice,' Icrave ' crust over with ice,' etc.
11. ME. whelmen 'turn,' ofenvhelmen 'over-
whelm ' contain a Germ, base hwalm-, which is
also in OSw. hwcelma, Sw. v&lm, dial, hvdlm,
hvolm ' Heuhaufen,' Norw. dial, kvelm. The
primary meaning of this base hwalm- is ' turning,
turned ; rounded over,' and the earlier form
*hwalfim-, a derivative of the Germ, hwelf- in
ON. holfenn 'gewolbt,' MDu. omwolven 'be-
deckt,' OEFries. biwlven (for -*wulven) 'obru-
tus, ' OE. behuielfan ' vault over, cover, ' Sw.
hvalfva ' wolben ; (um)wiilzen ; (um)kippen,
umschlagen,' ON. huelfa 'wolben,' etc.
12. Goth, qairrus ' sanftmiitig,' ON. kuirr,
kyrr 'ruhig,' MHG. kurre ' zahm, milde ' may
be compared both with Lith. geras ' gut ' (so
Hirt, PBB. xxrir, 352) and with Lith. gurtis
'locker, brockelig' (Bezzenberger, SB. m, 81).
This would imply a base g^er- ' crush, ' whence
'crusht, crumbling' and 'mild, good.'
February, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
49
To the same base we may refer Goth, -qairnus,
ON. kuern, OE. cweorn ' mill, ' etc. For other
related words see Uhlenbeck, Et. Wb.' 17. Simi-
larly to the base mel- ' crush, grind, ' belong Lat.
mola 'millstone,' Gk. /j.v\r] 'mill,' /toAa/cos 'soft,
gentle, mild, ' OHG. milti ' mild, giitig, freund-
lich.'
13. MHG. lip 'Leib, Korper, Magen' I sep-
arate from lip 'Leben,' comparing the former
with Lith. Idibas ' schlank, ' ChSl. libivu ' graci-
lis' (cf. Mod. Phil, n, 475). To these I now
add Lat. libum 'cake, pancake,' which was
named from its thinness or flatness. For meaning
compare Lith. plonas ' diinn ' : pldne ' Fladen,
Kuchen ' ; Skt. prdthati ' breitet aus, ' prtlid-s
'flache Hand': OHG. flado < Opferkuchen, '
MHG. vlade 'breiter, diinner Kuchen, Fladen';
OHG, flah 'flach': Gk. irAayos 'side'; Gk.
TrXaxoas 'flat': TrAaKovs 'a flat cake,' whence
Lat. placenta 'cake,' NE. placenta 'Mutter-
kuchen ' ; Skt. tanti-s ' diinn, schlank ' : tanti-s
' Leib, Korper. '
These parallels show that MHG. lip 'Leib,
Korper' meant primarily either 'side, flank,'
whence 'body,' or else ' Mutterkuchen, Mutter-
leib, ' and then ' stomach, body. '
To Lith. Idibas, MHG. lip, Lat. libum we can,
of course, add MHG. lebe-kuoche 'Lebkuchen,'
separating the last two words from Goth, hlaifs
' Brot, ' etc. This may indeed be related to Gk.
xAi/Javos ' a covered earthen vessel in which bread
was baked,' /cXf/San; 'bread or cake baked in
such a vessel, ' and may be referred to the base
klei- 'cover' (cf. author, Am. Germ. in, 31 7 f.,
and Walde, Et. Wb. 337).
14. Goth, insahts ' Erzahlung, Darstellung '
is supposed to be a derivative of insakan 'dar-
legen, erortern.' Tho this is quite possible,
another explanation presents itself. OE. insiht
' narrative, epitome ' is probably the same word,
and this is better referred to the root of OE. sagu
' statement, report, ' OHG. saga ' Rede, Aussage,
Erzahlung, ' sagen ' sagen, ' etc. : Lat. inseque
'say, relate,' insectiones ' narrationes, ' etc. For
other related words cf. Walde, Lat. Et. Wb. 303.
15. NE. dial, storken ' of sour disposition and
cold manner ' is in form an old pret. part. , prob-
ably of Norse origin. Compare Sw. dial, siorken
'hoflartig,' OSw. storkin, ON. storkenn 'erstarrt,'
etc., Goth, gastaurknan, OHG. kistorchanen ' er-
starren,' ON. storkna 'gerinnen,' etc. For re-
lated words see the etymological dictionaries.
16. NE. dial, storten, sturten 'of sour disposi-
tion and cold manner ' is either the same as the
above or else a pp. from a synonymous base sterd-.
Compare Norw. dial, staartne, stiirtne, forms used
in place of storkna (cf. Ross, Ordbog 765), and
MHG. gesturzin, pp. of sterzen ' steif emporragen ;
starr aufwarts richten,' related to ON. sterta
'straff ziehen,' ME. sterten, starten, NE. start,
etc. For other cognates see Falk og Torp, Et.
Ordbog n, 300.
FRANCIS A. WOOD.
University of Chicago.
THE DECLINE OF THE ENGLISH
HEROIC DRAMA.
In an article published in Volume xx of Pub-
lications of the Modern Language Association of
America,1 the statement is made that the English
heroic drama extended from the production of
The Indian Queen (1664) to that of Thomas
Hughes' Siege of Damascus (1720). Just why
this latter play was chosen for the pathetic role of
last representative of a vanishing race is not quite
clear, since it does not differ materially from
numerous other plays of later date.2 But what I
wish particularly to emphasize is that by assigning
a date as late as 1720 to the passing of the heroic
drama one robs this type of its social and artistic
significance. For the purposes of literary history
the important moment is not the one which wit-
nesses the appearance of the last straggling repre-
sentative of a genre, but rather the one that marks
its fall from literary supremacy. What we wish
to discover is the point at which a particular form
of literature ceased to satisfy the need of artistic
expression.
In the case of the heroic drama it is possible to
determine this point with more than ordinary
1 " The Relation of the Heroic Play to the Romances of
Beaumont and Fletcher," by James W. Tnpper.
2 Philips' Belisarius or Trapp' s Abra-MuK, for example.
50
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 2.
precision. I think no one will be inclined to
modify the statement that practically all the new
English tragedies which attracted much attention
between 1663 and 1675 conformed in the main
to the type under consideration. If this assump-
tion be correct, the problem as to the decline of
this type necessitates an examination of the trage-
dies produced within the period immediately fol-
lowing the latter date. At this time a distin-
guished trio, Dryden, Otway and Lee, dominated
the tragic stage so completely that we may safely
limit ourselves to the study of their works. If it
appears that at any particular time these men
deserted the heroic for something else, that will be
sufficient to prove that our type has been generally
despised and rejected.
So far as Dryden is concerned our work is
already done to our hand. In numberless biog-
raphies, literary hist >ries and monographs it has
been recognized that when the author of Aureng-
Zebe proclaimed in 1675 that he had "now
another taste of wit, ' ' he was consciously leaving
behind, not only rime, but the heroic ideal. All
for Love (1678) is a noble imitation of Shake-
speare, and (Edipus and Troilus and Cressida,
so far as they exhibit anything more than slovenly
workmanship, show classical and Shakespearean
influence. All of Drydeu's utterances between
1675 and 1680 indicate a thoro conversion to
ideals approximating those of the Elizabethans,
but tinged, or toned down, by the classical move-
ment. It has been generally agreed, that Dryden
ceased to pay devotion to the heroic muse about
1675. What has not been commonly recognized
is the fact that in doing this he was the leader in
a general movement which included all the im-
portant dramatists of his period.
In the work of Thomas Otway the heroic ele-
ment lingered longer than in that of Dryden. At
the time of the production of Aureng-Zebe the
younger man stood just at the beginning of his
career. The heroic play seemed still to be at its
zenith. The significance of Dryden' s prolog did
not yet appear, and the triumph of Settle's
Empress of Morocco was still fresh. More than
this, one could hardly expect a playwright of
twenty-four to be sufficiently in command of his
powers to conform perfectly to demands of any
particular type. So it is not surprising that we
find Otway following the Laureate but uncertainly
and at a distance. His first play, Alcibiades
(1675), seems to have been the result of an
attempt at adaptation to an uncongenial environ-
ment. "Gentle Otway" knew best how to weep
and sigh. But, as has been remarked, the heroic
had not yet been ushered off the stage, and so
naturally our author did his best to out-herod
Herod. Thus it happens that we have in Alci-
biades heroic rime and the characters and plot
that go with it. Nevertheless, they have all been
toned down. So unmistakably does the play
bear the impress of Otway' s sentimental nature
that the form more than once belies the content.
It is not strange that a play so compounded
attained no abiding success.
In Otway's seeond tragedy, Don Carlos (1676),
we have the same elements as in Alcibiades, but
in a different proportion. This play is in rime,
but the plot is genuinely tragic rather than heroic.
The hero and heroine face an insurmountable
obstacle ; they struggle against it rather feebly,
and finally the stage is cleared by promiscuous
assassination. All thru the untangling of this
plot the emphasis is laid on suffering. The
author's purpose is evidently to arouse pity rather
than admiration.
Otway's next work, a sadly bungled translation
of Racine's Berenice, seemed to denote a change
of heart. Rimed thruout, it is evident that the
author endeavored to preserve in it the form and
spirit of the original. From this it would appear
that the author of Don Carlos felt uncertain of
himself, was ready to try literary adventures.
His next tragedy, The History and Fall of Cairn
Marius (1680), was an experiment in another
direction. Romeo and Juliet, with no very large
amount of alloy of Otway's own, furnished forth
the material for this sad performance.
Soon after this, in 1680, came The Orphan.
the first of Otway's dramatic triumphs. In this
play it is evident that at last he had come into his
own. It is a noble tragedy of domestic life writ-
ten in blank verse and so genuinely moving that
for more than a century it drew tears from London
audiences. One of its characters may suggest
the heroic, but as a whole the play takes us back
to Elizabethan models. There is little about it to
suggest the years of tumult and change that had
February, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
51
passed since the production of Beaumont and
Fletcher's Maid's Tragedy.
It is unnecessary to examine Otway's later
works. In 1680, the time of the production of
The Orphan, he had left the heroic type definitely
behind him. In attaining this point he had passed
thru three stages. Alcibiades and Don Carlos
(1675 and 1676) exhibit him attempting to
adapt himself to the demands of the heroic type.
The plays that followed these, the adaptations of
Racine and Shakespeare, indicate that at the
time of their composition he was casting about
for material and models. By the time of the
composition of The Orphan (1680) he had found
himself ; that is, he had hit upon a type of drama
which at once satisfied his audience and permitted
the free play of his powers. And this type showed
little relation to the heroic.
Nathaniel Lee's reaction upon his social and
artistic environment was hardly as definite as
Otway's. Here was a man of tremendously en-
ergetic personality. His imagination was poetic
rather than dramatic. So turbulent was his cre-
ative impulse that it was only bunglingly that he
could conform to a pattern approved by popular
vogue, and it is difficult to imagine his sitting
down to study the taste of his audience. Never-
theless, so strong was the seventeenth century
demand for conformity or so imperious Lee's
need of finding a way to the generosity of patron
or public that even in his work one can trace the
decline of the heroic ideal. Lee's first play, Nero
(1675), published when its author was about
twenty-two, is chiefly remarkable as an indication
of his type of mind. Neither outwardly nor in-
wardly has it any definite form. Rime, blank
verse, and prose keep one guessing from begin-
ning to end as to the author's artistic purpose.
And as to the plot, there was jumbled into it
everything connected with Nero that could add
to the wild spectacularity of the confusion. Of
course it would not have occurred to Lee to use
rime had it not been for the popularity of the
heroic drama, and the extravagances of Nero
may be distantly related to those of Almanzor,
but after all there is little to show that the author
of this play was trying to write in the heroic style.
Gloriana (1676) and Sophonisba (1676) can
for our purposes be treated together : they both
show us Lee trying to tone himself down, to write
in the reigning style — and succeeding only par-
tially. Both plays are entirely in rime ; each
contains one heroic character who storms mag-
nificently ; each is characterized by a sentiment-
ally poetic element not strictly heroic ; each has
a plot made of two parts loosely hinged ; in both
cases the end is tragic. No matter which one you
take up you feel that the form may be heroic, but
the spirit is something new — or rather something
old ; for there is about it a sensuousness that takes
us back once more to Beaumont and Fletcher.
The Rival Queens (1677) exhibits even fewer
of the marks of the heroic than its forerunners.
Except for a few short passages it is written in
blank verse. That in 1677 Lee had developed
beyond the heroic standard is proved by the fact
that this play is generally interesting to a modern
reader. In other words, it contains some genu-
inely human characters and more than one situa-
tion in which they can do more than display their
powers of oratory. To be sure its plot is tripartite
and nothing but the character of Alexander holds
it together ; still the whole thing is genuine
enough to make one care about the outcome. Its
extravagance, lack of unity, and dramatic crude-
ness keep it from being a good play, but even its
faults are not those of the heroic type.
Mithradates, King of Pontus (1678) Lee ad-
vertised in his dedication as an imitation of
Shakespeare and Fletcher with "something ex-
traordinary" added by himself. The play ex-
hibits more of the softness of Fletcher than of the
dignity of Shakespeare ; the " something extraor-
dinary " must have been the unusual restraint in
structure and conventionality in character devel-
opment. This is the first of Lee's plays that can
boast a unified plot. In the nature of its appeal
it represents an approach to the tendencies of
Otway. That is to say, it is a " weeping play" ;
the central theme of its plot is that sin brings
down ruin on the heads of innocent and guilty
alike. The motive of pity is worked to the limit.
Lee's later plays we need but to glance at.
Caesar Borgia (1680) was a beastly, crude satire
on the Catholics : its chief value lies in the fact
that it shows us Lee in opposition to the court at
the time of the Popish plots. Theodosius (1680)
has a touch of the love-aud-honor conflict, but on
52
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 2,
the whole its interest is essentially human. Lucius
Junim Brutus (1681) is a Whig play apparently
written to furnish a vehicle for democratic senti-
ment. Except for prose passages all of these
plays are in blank verse. It would take a sharp
eye to discover in them resemblances to The Con-
quest of Granada.
Tho Lee was less subject to the movements of
his time than Otway, what development we have
discovered in him closely parallels that of his
fellow dramatist. His first play was wildly inco-
herent ; his second and third showed a tendency
to work within the limits of the heroic form ; his
fourth marked a distinct leaving behind of the
heroic and all it stood for.
It is now possible to suggest the approximate
date of the passing of the heroic drama from its
proud position on the English stage. Dryden's
Aureng-Zebe (1675), Otway'sDon CWo«(1676)
and Lee's Sophonisba (1676) were the last im-
portant plays of the period under consideration
in which the heroic ideal was dominant. The
year 1676, then, marks the point, not when the
heroic type passed out of existence, but when it
ceased to be regarded as the fashionable dramatic
form.
The meaning of this date becomes apparent the
moment one considers the significance of our type
in relation to the social conditions which created
it. And what is this significance ? From remarks
of Pepys, Dryden, Boyle, and others it is evident
that the playwrights of the Restoration soon dis-
covered that the new king was to play the Apollo
to the muses of his court. His taste — or at least
what those about him thought was his taste — is
explained in a letter by Roger Boyle concerning
his Black Prince. Quite naively he admits : "I
have now finished a play in the French manner ;
because I heard the king declare himself more in
favor of their way of writing than ours ; my poor
attempt cannot please his majesty, but my example
may excite others who can." Remarks like this
have led more than one historian to lay the blame
for the heroic drama at the door of the French
and so make a end of the whole matter. Exami-
nation of the Black Prince, however, and of other
plays which followed it shows that their relation
to Le Cid and Esther was only of the most distant
sort. All that we can safely infer from Boyle's
statement is that the heroic drama, whatever its
foreign relationships, sprang up in response to the
royal command.2
The heroic drama may be said to have been an
artistic reflex of the life of the court. The court
demanded two things : (1) a drama' which, while
conforming superficially to some of the French
notions of propriety, furnished effects sufficiently
spectacular to satisfy their jaded English appe-
tites ; (2) a drama which would emphasize the
position of the courtiers as opposed to the citizen
class. As to the latter point a word of explana-
tion seems necessary. Charles II was from the
beginning of his reign engaged in a life and death
struggle for the traditions which he represented.
Like his father before him he was striving to
maintain the supremacy of the court. In earlier
times, when the power of the king past unques-
tioned, those of noble blood did not have to insist
ostentatiously on their privileges and virtues. But
between 1660 and 1689 it behooved the great
ones to make the most of their position, to seize
upon every means of widening the gulf between
themselves and the crowd.
The two-fold demand of the court the heroic
drama was cleverly designed to satisfy. In the
first place works of this type combined a pseudo-
French form with a highly spectacular content.
The riming verse, the thin-drawn characters, the
conventional situations, the elevated diction, the
talk of love and honor — all were calculated to
flatter the courtiers of Charles into the notion
that they were gentlemen of exquisite refinement.
But at the same time the wild call of trumpets,
the confusion of towns besieged and victories won,
the overwrought eloquence of hero and villain, the
2 It should be remembered in this connection that a good
many of the prominent playwrights were partially main-
tained by the King or his courtiers. In 1670 Dryden
became Poet-Laureate and Historiographer Koyal, with
a salary of two hundred pounds a year. John Crowne, in
the dedication of his Destruction of Jerusalem (1677) to
the Duchess of Portsmouth, mistress of the King, dwells
fulsomely on that lady's favors to him ; his "poetic gar-
den " has been " warmed by the lustre " of her favor, and
"watered by royal bounty," which she "caused to be
showered upon it." In his dedications both to Don Carlos
and Titus and Berenice, Otway recognized the Earl of Roch-
ester, one of Charles' favorites, as the great patron of the
arts. Cases of this sort might be multiplied indefinitely.
February, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
53
glamor of fantastic scenery and the surprises of
marvelous machines — these would serve as the
sauce demanded by blase English temperaments.
In the second place, Charles and all those who
took their cue from him might well take delight
in the heroic drama because nothing could have
been better calculated to exalt their station. In
this play the governing class appeared gallant in
action and refined in speech as it would have itself
supposed to be.3 The citizen class, on the con-
trary, usually played the part of vulgar, mer-
cenary fools,4 while the peasants were seldom
given credit for more than the gregarious instincts
of animals.5 There is abundance of evidence to
show that this picture was drawn for the delight
of the courtly beholder. No occasion was lost in
dedication or prolog to insist upon the fact that
the strutting hero on the stage fell far short of the
beaux in the boxes, or that in point of beauty the
heroine was to the ladies of the court but as a
farthing rush-light to the sun.6 Small wonder
that the King ordered plays of this sort or that
Dryden thought no other form so suitable for
"the entertainment of a noble audience." Small
wonder, too, that it did not catch the eye or ear
of the common people. In 1671 John Crowne
explained the failure of his Juliana, or the Prin-
cess of Poland by writing : "It had the misfor-
tune to be brought into the world in a time when
the dog-star was near its reign . . . ; and which
was the worst mishap, when the most candid, as
well as the most illustrious judges, I mean the
court, were absent, and, excepting the presence
of some great and noble persons, this unhappy
poem left, for the most part, to the mercy of a
common audience." It will be remembered that
3 Witness the delicate casuistry in Orrery' s Black Prince,
Act IV, and Dryden' s Conquest of Granada, Part I, Act v,
Scene ii. As to superiority of kings, see Crown's Charles
VIII.
4 See Crowne's Destruction of Jerusalem, Part I, Act II,
and Payne's Siege of Constantinople, Act IV.
6 In the Conquest of Granada, Part I, Act i, Scene i,
Almanzor cries out to the mob :
" Hence you unthinking crowd !
Empire, thou poor and despicable thing,
When such as these can make or unmake a king ! "
6See dedication of Settle's Ibrahim and Dryden's Tyran-
nic Lone and Conquest of Granada ; also the epilog to the
last named play.
in the Duke of Buckingham's Rehearsal Smith
and Johnson, the critics, were representatives of
the plain people.
But if the heroic drama satisfied the court why
should it decline as early as 1675-80 ? A glance
at the political affairs of the period will answer the
question. We are accustomed to think of Charles
II as he was at the beginning of his reign, safe in
the new enthusiasm of his people. He felt little
need of spending weary hours at the council board ;
his days and nights were given to amusement and
art, — above all to the delights of the theater. But
all this was soon to change. The part of Louis
XIV was a difficult one to play in England. The
English Parliament had its own notions as to
religious settlement and foreign affairs. More
than this, by keeping the purse-strings tight it
was bent on having its own way. By appearing
to yield at this point or that Charles could now
and again get an appropriation ; but it was always
too small and soon dissipated. To secure a degree
of independence from his troublesome Parliament
the King entered into league with Louis XIV.
For restraining the English from war with France
or aiding Louis against the Dutch he received
from time to time considerable sums. But in
trying to carry out his pledges to Louis he alien-
ated his people, and by now and then giving in
to Parliament he ever and anon found himself at
outs with Louis. This went on until by 1678 he
had lost all prestige both at home and abroad.
It goes without saying that under these circum-
stances the life of his court could not go on in its
former brilliancy. Charles' tastes — especially in
mistresses — were of the most expensive. In 1674
the Earl of Denby, then Lord Treasurer, found
upon investigation that in every year except one
the King had exceeded his revenues by a million.
When Denby insisted that all salaries and pen-
sions should be stopped it was naturally the lit-
erary dependents of the court who suffered first.
The result of this policy echoed mournfully thru
the prefaces and dedications of the time. Poets
and playwrights, pitifully enough maintained all
along, were now reduced to the direst shifts. And
with every pang of their distress there was a
notable decrease in their loyalty. Thomas Bruce
has preserved for us a description of Charles' court
in the days of its sad decline :
54
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 2.
Thus have I seen a King at chess,
His rooks and Knights withdrawn,
His Queen and Bishops in distress,
Shifting about, growing less and less,
With here and there a pawn.
Meantime the Whigs were increasing in num-
bers and power. Both Anglicans and Non-con-
formists were arrayed against the court. Led
by Shaftesbury, their opposition grew constantly
bolder. England, the old England of Elizabeth
and Cromwell, was waking again. More and more
the country gentlemen and London cit came into
their own. In theater as well as in Parliament
they soon had the majority. And it was to the
taste of these that our trio of dramatists con-
sciously or unconsciously adapted their work.7
This, then, is the reason why the heroic drama
declined between 1675 and 1680. The court was
so poor it could not continue its bounty to play-
wrights, and its gay life had been so seriously in-
terfered with that it could no longer set the pace
for the dramatic world of the English capital.
Another element in the nation was crowding into
prominence and giving a new tone even to theat-
rical life. So it seems to me that by assigning a
date as late as 1720 to the decline of the heroic
drama one is robbing that type of its social and
artistic significance.
WM. E. BOHN.
Ann Arbor, Mich.
The word ' sheath, ' or ' scabbard, ' is used as a
metaphor for 'body' as early as Dan. 7. 15, if the
reading is correct. The AV. has : ' I Daniel was
grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body,'
where for ' body ' the margin of the RV. has
'sheath,' the literal translation of the Aramaic.
As Salmond says ( Christian Doctrine of Immortal-
ity, p. 151, note) : ' The spirit of the prophet is
compared to a sword, and his body to the scab-
bard in which it is laid.' In the lexicons of
Buxtorf and of Levy, two examples of the word
in later Hebrew are quoted, both referring to the
return of souls to their bodies.
Pliny (H. N. 7. 52. 174) tells a story of
Hermotimus, to the effect that his soul was wont,
from time to time, to leave his body, and wander
freely about, his body in the meantime lying only
half alive, until on one occasion his enemies
burnt the deserted body, ' remeanti animse veluti
vaginam ademerint. '
In modern times, Shelley has the figure in the
Adonais (20. 6-8):
Shall that alone which knows
Be as a sword consumed before the sheath
By sightless lightning ?
In his Defense of Poetry (ed. Cook), it is not
the soul, but poetry, which is a sword.
ALBERT S. COOK.
Yale University.
A SIMILE OF BROWNING'S.
Toward the close of The Flight of the Duchess,
Browning thus describes the reversion of the old
Gypsy to her ordinary condition :
I spoke to her, but she merely jabbered
In the old style ; both her eyes had slunk
Back to their pits ; her stature shrunk ;
In short, the soul in its body sunk
Like a blade sent home to its scabbard.
7 In this connection it is interesting to notice that about
this time plays dedicated to private gentlemen became not
infrequent, e. y., Hopkins' Wives' Excuse and Sir Anthony
Love. Another fact not to be overlooked is that plays
more or less democratic were received with applause, e. g.,
Lee's Lucius Junius Brutus.
'NEVER LESS ALONE THAN WHEN
ALONE.'
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (9th ed. ) con-
tains three expressions of this thought in nearly
identical language :
(1) Gibbon, Memoirs 1. 117: 'I was never
less alone than when by myself >•'
(2) Rogers, Human Life: 'Then never less
alone than when alone.'
(3) Byron, Childe Harold 3. 90. 843 : ' In
solitude, where we are least alone." *
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar.
'Cf. 4. 178. 1596-7:
February, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
55
But it occurs earlier in Browne's (1616) Bri-
tannia's Pastorals 2. 4. 170 :
' Or to be least alone when most alone.'
Then in Drummond of Hawthornden' s Urania:
Though solitare, yet who is not alone,
But doth converse with that eternal love.
And in Milton, P. L. 9. 250 :
For solitude sometimes is best society,
with which Bowie compares Sidney, Arcadia,
Bk. 3 : ' Your excellencies have power to make
cities envy these woods, and solitariness to be
accounted the sweetest company.' Add Arcadia,
Bk. 1 (quoted by Bartlett, p. 34) : 'They are
never alone that are accompanied with noble
thoughts. '
All these are ultimately indebted to Cicero,
De Re Publ. 1. 17. 27, though, as the only known
MS. of this work was not discovered till the early
part of the nineteenth century, it was doubtless
through some intermediary. The passage runs :
' Africanum avum meum scribit Cato solitum esse
dicere . . . numquam se plus agere quam nihil
cum ageret, numquam minus solum esse quam cum
solus esset.' Epictetus has (chap. 14, quoted by
Bartlett, p. 743) : 'When you have shut your
doors, and darkened your room, remember never
to say that you are alone, for you are not alone ;
but God is within, and your genius is within.'
ALBERT S. COOK.
Yale University.
MILTON, COMUS 598.
I do not find that any one has brought Job
26. 11 into relation with 'pillared firmament.'
Davidson says (The Book of Job, p. 185) : 'The
"pillars" of the heavens, if the conception be
not wholly ideal, may be the lofty mountains on
which the heavens seem to rest.'
ALBERT S. COOK.
Yale University.
DON QUIXOTE I, PROLOGO : NON
BENE PRO TOTO LIBERTAS
VENDITUR AURO.
Clemencin, I (1833), L, has shown that the
apophthegm belongs to "el autor anonimo de las
fabulas llamadas Esopicas, libro 3.°, fabula 14
del Can y el Lobo." * He has also pointed out
the use made of it by Juan Ruiz (Ducamin) 206
lybertat e ssoliura non es por oro conplado 2 and
by Diego Lopez de Haro (Depping, Sammlung,
1817, 194) 3:
El bie'n de la libertad
Por ningun oro es comprado.
Medina, Prases literarias afortunadas, Rev.
hispanique xvin ('08), 177, copies Clemencin,
overlooks the reference to Lopez de Haro, and
adduces another instance of the quotation from
' ' el editor . . . anonimo del Libro de los enxem-
plos,4 que cuenta la fabula del can y el lobo
(176)" [Gayangos 489 b]. He prints (with
unwarranted changes) the whole fable and the
Latin epimyth, but omits what seems to me of
greater interest : the Latin promyth and its trans-
lation and the translation of the epimyth. These
read according to the two extant Mss.6 :
Libertas non potest auro conparari.
Non hay cosa que a libertad sea conparada ;
Por oro nin por plata non puede ser conprada.
Por todo el oro mal se uende la libertad ;
Mas que las rriquezas val este don celestial.
A further example of the sentence is Corvaeho
(Perez Pastor) 18 :/ Quien es tan loco efuera de
seso que quiere su poderio dar a otro e su lybertad
someter a quien non deue . . . contra el dicho del
sabio, que dize : quien pudiere ser suyo, non sea
1 Not accessible to me. S. Anonymvs Neveleti (Foer-
ster), urn, 25.
2 1 defer the discussion of the lack of concord to a later
occasion.
3 Not accessible to me.
'Since 1878 we know through Morel-Fatio, Bom. VII
481, the author : Climente Sanchez, arcediano de Val-
deras, en la iglesia de Leon. Among Spanish books,
Mendndez y Pelayo, Ongenes de la Novela I, err, could
have told Medina so.
6 For copies of these passages I am indebted to the kind-
ness of Dr. M. A. Buchanan.
56
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 2.
enagenado, que lybertad e franqueza non es por oro
compradaf E un exemplo antiguo es, el qual puso
el arcipreste de Fita en su tractado. As far back
as 1779, Sanchez, Col. I 104, called attention to
this passage, and again IV (1790), 39. Clemen-
cin, who quotes from the latter page, must have
seen the reference given there. It is strange that
he did not profit by it.
But the saying was known in Spain long before
Juan Ruiz. The Primera Cronica General, I 73
b 47, makes Petreo, in his speech to his country-
men (before Le>ida) use the following words :
E la franqueza non se uende bien por tod ell oro
del mundo, ca meior es que el et mas uale ; et uos
lidiat por ella et defendet la, ca sobrel defendi-
miento desta se espiende ell oro et la plata, et son
preciados los buenos cauallos et guardados pora en
las batallas, e ayuntadas las grandes flotas por mar-
et cercadas las cibdades, et fechos losfuertes cos,
tiellos et las otras fortalezas por las tierras . . .
Page 74 a 20 " Lucan, que fizo est estoria" is
given as the source. The verses of Lucan that
come into question read (Hosius, 1892, iv223):
Non chalybem gentes penitus fugiente metallo
Eruerent, nulli vallarent oppida muri,
Non sonipes in bella ferox, non iret in aequor
Turrigeras classis pelago sparsura carinas,
Si bene libertas umquam pro pace daretur.
It seems clear that the last line of Lucaii re-
called to the mind of the author of the Prim.
Cron. Gen. the similar line of the An. Nev., and
that he preferred to use this. We have then
probably here the earliest proof of Spanish
acquaintance with the An. Nev.
K. PIETSCH.
The University of Chicago.
SPANISH LITERATURE.
El Libro de los Gatos : A text with introduction
and notes by G. T. NORTHUP. Reprinted from
Modern Philology, Vol. v, No. 4. Chicago :
1908. 8vo., 78 pp.
In the Introduction to the above book, a Doc-
tor's dissertation of the University of Chicago, the
editor states clearly the salient facts regarding the
old Spanish Libro de los Gatos and discusses the
important problems connected with its literary
history. The Gatos is preserved to us in a single
MS. of the Biblioteca Nacional of Madrid, and
forms part of the codex containing the Libro de
losExenplos; it had been published in 1860 by
Gayangos and was greatly in need of a new and
critical edition. The Gatos is a translation of the
Fabulce of the English monk, Odo of Cheriton,
and these Fabulce, are preserved in more than two
dozen Latin MSS. Northup shows that allowing
for the displacement of one or two leaves in a
parent Spanish MS. , the order of the fables of the
Gatos corresponds to what is probably the best Latin
MS., namely, Corpus Christi, 441; in other
words, that published by Hervieux. The con-
tents of the individual fables, likewise, resemble
most closely this same Corpus Christi version. As
it was impossible to collate the twenty-five extant
Odo-Mss., Northup has studied the relation of the
Gatos to Odo by means of the twenty Odo-fables
published by Voigt, who records the variant read-
ings of eleven MSS. The result of this study shows
that in spite of the close relation of the Gatos to
the Corpus Christi MS., the latter cannot be the
immediate source of the extant Spanish version.
This is evidenced by the various cases where the
readings of the Gatos-wa. agree with other Latin
MSS. against the Corpus Christi ; it is also shown
by a list of instances where the Spanish MS. reveals
a distinctly better reading than the Corpus Christi
and this list is interesting and forceful. It should
be noted, however, that on page nine we are told
that Tu nunca buelas is a " distinctly better read-
ing" than the Latin Nichil uales, in exemplo
xxvi, 1, yet in the notes to the constructed text
of the same passage, we find that "possibly it
should read nada uales." Northup' s final con-
clusion seems to be established beyond a doubt :
The Gatos-MS. is derived from a Latin MS. earlier
than any now extant and ancestor of both the
Corpus Christi and those of Herlet's Groups I and
II. It is evident also that the Gatos-MS. is not a
direct translation of a Latin original, but is a copy
of a previous Spanish translation ; cf. such errors
as alias non for all asno, cosas for casas, comi6 for
comma, yeruas for yras, etc. , ' ' which appear to
have arisen entirely within the Spanish ' ' (pp.
11-12). It is true also that the Spanish trans-
February, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
57
lation of the Gatos is extremely well done and its
purely literary merits entitle it to an important
place in early Spanish literature.
In the matter of sources, North up has justly
refrained from going into the question of the fore-
runners of Odo of Cheritou. There are two exem-
plos in the Gatos, however, that are not trace-
able to Odo. The first of these is Number XL,
the story of the monk who, tempted by the Devil,
is about to forsake his monastery, but is saved by
clasping his arms around the crucifix. This story
is not found in any of the Odo-Mss., and Northup
agrees with Hervieux in regarding it as a mere
continuation of the moral of the preceding fable.
This conclusion seems all the more probable in the
light of a variant of the story preserved in the
Evpejo de los legos. This variant, though it has
no equivalent in Odo-Mss., contains a mention of
its own source as " Odo de Sericon."
The second selection not found in Odo occurs in
exemplo xxv, De los dos companeros. After re-
lating the story as found in Odo, the Spanish
translator adds on a second part in which the
truthful man, now known as Buena Verdad, re-
gains his lost eyesight and Mala Verdad meets an
ignominious death. Northup makes an interesting
study of this story and adds several variants not
found in Kohler and Bolte, including an Oriental
version in the Pamir dialect, that bears a striking
resemblance to the Gates-version.
In regard to the title, author, date and dialect
of the Gatos, there still remain problems that are
not settled definitely. The title, Libra de los
Gatos, certainly seems to have no logical connec-
tion with the contents of the MS. After elimi-
nating the various previous explanations and the-
ories regarding the title, Northup concludes that
the word Gatos is the result of a paleographic
blunder, and he suggests a possible connection
with the words Magistri Odonis or Ottonis — words
that occur in nearly all the Odo-Mss. A second
suggestion is that the full title may be Libra de
los quentos, since not only might the words Quen-
tos and Gatos easily be confused, but " there is an
instance of the use of quentos in this way (i. e.,
for exemplos) at this same period where, in the
Espejo de los legos MSS., there are frequent refer-
ences to a Libro de los quentos. . . . The title is,
of course, the translation of some Latin title cited
by Hovenden. ' ' The editor offers these two ex-
planations merely as suggestions, but his primary
conclusion, namely, that the word gatos is a
scribal error, is certainly the most acceptable
explanation as yet presented on this difficult
question.
The Gatos occurs in the same codex as the
Libro de los Exenplos and, like the latter, shows
not infrequent traces of Leonese dialect forms.
The author of the Exenplos was Climente Sanchez
of Valderas, and Morel-Fatio puts the date of
composition 1400-1421, and the date of the
Madrid MS. at the beginning of the fifteenth
century. Northup thinks the paper and hand-
writing of the Gatos MS. show it to be of the
same date, and concludes as follows :
"Now, Valderas is almost exactly on the border-line
between Leon and Castile. We should expect a MS. writ-
ten there to show traces of the eastern Leonese dialect.
These peculiarities abound in the Madrid MS. of the
Exenplos. Many of the same dialectic traces, the most
important of which is the palatalization of initial t, occur
in the Gates MS. It is, therefore, a possibility that the
Gatos may have been translated or copied at Valderas."
If the entire Exenplos- Gatos MS. was written
at one period and in one locality, we have a valu-
able source of information in the five copyists who
wrote the MS. A careful study of the individual
scribal traits of these five copyists would surely
throw more light on the date and dialect of the
Gatos. Such a study is possible at the present
time since a copy of the Exenplos portion of the
codex is now in the possession of Professor Buch-
anan of the University of Toronto. The isolated
example of the verbal termination -ie (avrie, LIV,
33), suggests at once a somewhat consistent mod-
ernization to -ia on the part of the Gatos scribe,
especially since the Exenplos-ma. (in the Gayan-
gos edition), shows numerous examples of -ie.
Such a study of the scribal traits would produce
either confirmation or additional suspicion in
regard to the varying construction parar mientes
en n, 19, parar mientes al, xix, 5, and parar
mientes -\- object, in, 22 ; the isolated enclytic
forms quel, xxxii, 7, and aquelos, xxxvi, 8 ;
etc.
The critical text has been constructed with
care and good judgment, especially in the many
passages which had been garbled by the Spanish
58
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 2.
scribe. The Notes to the text contain the MS.
variants, readings from the Hervieux edition of
Odo where such readings can elucidate the Spanish
text, linguistic commentary, and not infrequent
additions to the literary history of Odo' s fables.
The individual exemplos, are accompanied, when-
ever possible, by bibliographical references to the
studies of Herlet, Kohler and Chauvin, and to
the parallels found in Old Spanish literature. In
six instances we have inedited stories from the
Espejo de los legos, or translation of the Speculum
Laioum of the elusive Hovendeu. In short, the
work shows an accurate and comprehensive knowl-
edge of Old Spanish, and sound critical method.
The text itself, based on a single faulty MS.,
must, as a matter of course, contain occasional
readings and explanations that are open to a dif-
ference of opinion. The dropping of an intervo-
calic d is a strong characteristic of the Gatos and
Pietsch in his Disticha Catonls, has amply justi-
fied the Old Spanish form pues for puedes. Never-
theless, the isolated example of pue for puede in
the Gatos occurs in the phrase pue decir, xv, 37,
and suggests the possibility of a mere scribal error
— the omission of one de of two consecutive and
identical syllables; cf. saboros[os] , xxix, 12,
pues [es~\, vn, 11, and even [corria'] contra, LIX,
9. By this same principle of mental lapsus we
can account for the missing syllable co in o[co]men
xxxi, 17, if the conjunction o was preceded by
the conventional c-curve. Going still further, by
the same principle we may restore a possible de in
the only two cases where comencar takes a fol-
lowing infinitive directly : comencar dar, xxxvn,
18, and comencar deyir, LVII, 22. While the
construction comencar -f- infinitive is not unknown
in Old Spanish, its use can hardly be justified by
a faulty verse of the Apolonio, cited by Meyer-
Liibke (Gram., in, 429), nor by the misstate-
ment of Fitz-Gerald (Cuaderna Via, p. 51), who
fails to differentiate between comencar and empe-
car. Authoritative examples might have been
found in Liljequiat, Infinitiv i det/ornspamka lag-
spr&ket, Lund, 1886, p. 18.
The apocopated form of the pronoun un in
dixole un (vn, 2) is open to objection, and the
citation of grand and gran as evidence is not con-
clusive. In the case of grand, the fall of final e
shows the regular phonetic development, whereas
the fall of final o is dependent on atonic position
of the word or its close syntactical relation to a
following word or phrase ; i. e., un a otro, un
dellos, etc. Discussing the construction, se en-
tiende en, se entiende a, se entiende por (i, n. 8),
the editor states that "where an infinitive follows
or a clause, the prepositional complement is omit-
ted." Nevertheless, on page 56 we find two ex-
amples of the preposition por apparently governing
a 9«e-clause. Gayangos evidently saw the diffi-
culty in these two passages, and his reading of the
first (xxx, 14) seems preferable to Northup's,
since it enables us to interpret por que as 'be-
cause.' In the second passage (xxxi, 11), we
might eliminate the doubtful construction by
interpreting por que as ' although ' and the sub-
sequent mas as ' nevertheless. '
The following readings are suggested for other
portions of the text : i, 2, en alto for al alto, cf.
i, 10 ; or read (al) alto, cf. i, 3 and the scribe's
weakness for reduplicating syllables. — in, 13, omit
e ; Odo has ' ' quando caput [esf] bene fricatum
uino vel cervisia. — in, 15, Gayangos' reading or
emendation " despues [viene ef] espanto" seems
preferable to Northup' s abrupt ' ' despues es-
panto."— xvi, 19, read [a] aquellos que, since
the context exacts the meaning ' those to whom.'
— xxiv, 27, the que of e que is superfluous ; cf.
the first occurrence of the theme in 1. 2 of this
same ejemplo. We probably have mere misprints
in boluieren for boluieron, in, 11 ; guadase for
guadasse, Vin, note 10 ; comma after leoncilo, XV,
25 ; el for al, xix, 6 ; pequeno, xxiv, 57 ; 34
for 35, xxv, note ; deue for deuen, XLVIII, 8 ;
aconjenlos for acojenlos, LI, note 18. The editor
himself has corrected an error on the title-page
and so, to quote a famous writer of exemplos, non
murio el su nonbre.
While the edition has no vocabulary, the editor
calls attention, in his notes, to the various Old
Spanish words that need special elucidation. The
word linda, xxiv, 3, has escaped mention. The
Latin of Hervieux shows no equivalent for this
word, which in the Gatos occurs in the sentence :
" E tanto andido fasta que fallo en vna tierra vna
muger muy fermosa (Hervieux, pulcherrimam) e
era linda e auia poco que muriera su marido. ' '
The meaning of linda, then, seems to be the au-
thentic Old Spanish one of 'lawfully wedded,' in
February, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
59
which case the word furnishes additional evidence
for the early date of the Gatos. A similar flavor
of antiquity attaches to "tantos de pallos," xiv,
16, and "non veo nin punto," xxvur, 8. In
connection with the note on enfinnir, ix, 22, in
the Fuero Juzgo, the vocabulary by Rodriguez y
Rodriguez, Santiago, 1905, contains actual cita-
tions from the text and for this reason is prefer-
able to the edition of the Spanish Academy.
The preceding notes and comments, often mere
suggestions, must find their justification in the
importance of both the text itself and the present
edition. As a doctor's dissertation, Northup's
work must hold high rank ; regarded objectively,
it is a contribution well able to stand on its own
intrinsic merits.
C. CARROLL HARDEN.
Johns Hopkins Unicersily.
SPANISH LITERATURE.
La Alegria del Capitdn Ribot, by ARMANDO
PALACIO VALDES. Edited with Introduction,
Notes and Vocabulary by FREDERIC W. MOR-
RISON and PHILIP H. CHURCHMAN. Boston :
D. C. Heath & Co. Second edition, 1907.
The appearance, within a year, of a second
edition of La Alegria del Capitdn Ribot, edited
by Morrison and Churchman, calls attention to
the excellencies of this text. The story itself has
enough of what is usually called the human ele-
ment, and sufficient movement and climax to hold
a reader's attention to the end. With great deli-
cacy and with refreshing if not oversubtle humor,
the author tells of the love of the kindly, joyous
sea-captain for his friend's wife, and of their final
mutual renunciation after the death of the hus-
band. The book has been regarded as a protest
against the realistic novel of adultery after the
French manner. The editors with good judgment
in their excisions have reduced the text by one-
fourth, filling the gaps with summaries in English.
The author's straightforward, simple, if at times
rather trite language, prevents the work from
offering any especial difficulties to the first year
student. The vocabulary is about as large, pro-
portionally, as that of recently edited texts of
Galdos, Alarcon, etc., but seems to contain less
words of rare usage. Only occasionally there
appears a far-fetched or mixed metaphor, such as
the comparison of Sabas with his pipe to an
electric motor (p. 140).
The introduction, though somewhat diffuse, fur-
nishes a good exposition of the author's literary
aims and accomplishment. Valdes is described
as a writer of great powers of observation, simple
and lightly ironical in his treatment of subjects,
and broadly a realist, though not confining him-
self to the commonplaces of existence. In the
new edition a note has been changed, indicating
the publication in the past year of Valdes' s novel,
Tristan 6 el Pesimi&mo.
The chief value of the edition is, however, the
well executed notes and vocabulary. The gram-
matical observations are not excessive in number
nor are they pedantic commonplaces. Many rules
which in the ordinary grammars are obscurely
phrased, or for various reasons are not sufficiently
emphasized, are here explained with absolute clear-
ness and often in an interesting manner. Excep-
tionally well worded are such notes as the follow-
ing : time constructions with hace (p. 6, n. 3) ;
the preposition introducing a subordinate clause
(p. 7, n. 3); the use of the imperfect subjunctive
in -ra for the pluperfect and preterit indicative
(p. 11, n. 1); and the occasional relatively future
idea in the imperfect as analogous to the future
idea at times in the present (p. 28, n. 1). The
note on mientras . . .no (p. 63, n. 2), should
have appeared earlier, referring to the same con-
struction on page 14, line 15.
The geographical explanations are attractively
written and do not suggest too much the ency-
clopsedia. The notes on valencianas (p. 10, n. 6),
Andaluda (p. 11, n. 4), Barcelona (p. 12, n. 2),
gallego (p. 42, n. 9), are models in their origin-
ality as well as in the exactness of information.
Especially interesting in these notes is the charac-
terization of the people of the several districts,
and the brief description of their customs and
language.
The vocabulary is complete, and in most cases
furnishes a specific rendering as well as the gen-
eric meaning of the words. In the new edition,
proprietario (p. 243) has been corrected. In
60
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 2.
fact, the half dozen misprints of the first edition
have been rectified, leaving the book in that
respect apparently flawless.
P. O. SKINNER.
Dartmouth College.
CORRESPONDENCE.
JAMES THOMSON AND MILTON.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIES : — Will the interest in the obligations of
the earlier eighteenth century to Milton justify the
printing of the following additions to G. C.
Macaulay's lists (Eng. Men of Letters, James
Thomson, pp. 141-5) of James Thomson's debts
to Milton's Minor Poems ?
The Morning in the Country is all reminiscent
of L' Allegro, 41-68. Cp. 1-4 with L' Allegro,
59-62, and in thousand liveries drest with in
thousand liveries dig lit, Cp. in each (1) the
lark's early song ; (2) the rising of the persons ;
(3) the cock and the hens ; (4) the end, the
shepherd telling his tale.
On Beauty, 9-23, 28-9, 35-7, has
This happy place with all delights abounds,
And plenty broods upon the fertile grounds.
Here verdant grass their waving ....
And hills and vales in sweet confusion lie ;
The nibbling flock $tray[s] ' o'er the rising hills,
And all around with bleating music fills :
High on their fronts tall blooming forests nod,2
Of sylvan deities the blest abode s :
The feather' d minstrels hop from spray to spray,
And chant their gladsome carols all the day ;
Till dusky night, advancing in her car,4
Makes with declining light successful war.
Then Philomel6 her mournful lay repeats,
And through her throat breathes melancholy sweets.6
Still higher yet wild rugged ' rocks arise,
Increasing brooks 8 roll down the mountain's side,
And as they pass the opposing pebbles chide.8
The way that to this stately palace 9 goes
Of myrtle trees, lies 'twixt two even rows,
Which, towering high, witli outstretch'd arms display'd,9
Cp. L' Allegro, 71-80 :
Eusset lawns and fallows grey,
Where the nibbling flocks do stray ' ;
Mountains on whose barren breast
The labouring clouds do often rest ;
Meadows trim with daisies pied,
Shallow lirooks e and rivers wide ;
Towers and battlements 9 it sees
Bosomed high 9 in tufted trees,2
Where perhaps some beauty lies,3
The cynosure of neighbouring eyes.
Cp. also II Penseroso, 56-9 :
' Less Philomel 5 will deign a song,
In her sweetest saddest plight,6
Smoothing the nigged ' brow of Night,4
While Cynthia checks her dragon yoke * . . .
and 121 :
Thus, Night, oft see me in thy pale career 4 . . .
On Happiness, 88-93, with its midnight,
moonlight dance on the margent of some limpid
flood, of fairies from Stygian caves, reminds of
Comus's utterance (115-121) at midnight (102,
128, 131-3) concerning the dance of the finny
droves and fairies by streams in the moonlight.
Cf. Comus's same speech for Stygian darkness,
132 ; L' Allegro 3, Stygian cave; Comus 232,
margent.
With To the Memory of Sir Isaac Newton, 46,
our wandering Queen of Night, compare the
wandering moon of II Penseroso, 67.
Autumn, 1145ff, reads :
Drear is the state of the benighted wretch,
Who then, bewilder'd, wanders through the dark,
Full of pale fancies, and chimeras huge ;
Nor visited by one directive ray,
From cottage streaming, or from airy hall.
Perhaps impatient he stumbles on,
Struck from the root of slimy rushes, blue,
The Wildfire scatters round, or gather'd trails
A length of flame deceitful o'er the moss :
Whither decoy'd by the fantastic blaze,
Now lost and now renew' d, he sinks absorb' d,
Eider and horse, amid the miry gulf : . . .
Cp. Comus, 195-205, the state of the Lady, a
misled and lonely traveller at night in the blind
mazes of a tangled wood, and her utterance :
A thousand fantasies
Begin to throng into my memory,
Of calling shapes, and beckoning shadows dire,
And airy tongues that syllable men's names
On sands and shores and desert wildernesses.
February, 1909.]
MODEBN LANGUAGE NOTES.
61
The Elder Brother in the same state, exclaims,
336:
Or if your influence be quite dammed up
With black usurping mists, some gentle taper,
Though a rusA-candle from the wicker hole
Of some day habitation, visit us
With thy long levelled rule of streaming light,
And thou shalt be our star of Arcady,
Or Tyrian Cynosure.
Just a moment before (323-6) the Lady had
occasion to compare tapestry halls (which the
Brother's Though would mark as preferable to
him) and lowly sheds as places of refuge. — Note
that the Spirit refers to dire Chimeras and
enchanted isles, 517 ; and that in L' Allegro the
misleading by a false light is alluded to, 104.
With Spring, 441 ff., compare II Penseroso,
131-50. Compare the flower matter, the lily,
the cowslips that hang the dewy head, with all
the lowly children of the shade; and the flower
passage of Lycidas (132 if.), the valleys low on
which the sivart star sparely looks, all your quaint
enamelled eyes, With cowslips wan that hang the
pensive head, And every flower that sad embroid-
ery wears.
Compare Spring, 1022 ff. , where Professor
Beers says (Eng. Rom. in the l&th Century, p.
116) " romantic love once more comes back into
poetry," with II Penseroso, 130-46 ; 56-72 ;
85 ff.; 121-2.
The two cantos of The Castle of Indolence deal
with Inclination versus Duty, as does Lycidas,
64-84. The summing up of the argument for
Inclination (C. of I., i. 19),
O grievous folly I to heap up estate,
Losing the days you see beneath the sun ;
When sudden comes blind unrelenting fate,
And gives the untasted portion you have won. . . .
is the concluding of the argument for Inclination
in Lycidas (70ff.) :
Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise
To scorn delights and live laborious days ;
But the fair guerdon when we hope to find,
Comes the blind Fury with the abhorred shears,
And slits the thin-spun life.
Compare with the Lycidas passages, st. 12 (the
opening of the argument) also :
but as the furthest steep
You trust to gain, and put an end to strife,
Down thunders back the stone with mighty sweep,
And hurls your labours to the valley deep,
For ever vain : . . . .
JOHN EDWIN WELLS.
Hiram College.
AN EVENING WITH COLERIDGE.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIES : — Through the courtesy of my friend, Dr.
Georg Herzfeld, of Berlin, I am enabled to call
attention to a recent discovery of his. It is a
book of literary sketches, apparently hitherto
neglected, by a German visitor to England about
1830, and is particularly noteworthy for its de-
scription of one of the famous Highgate evenings
with Coleridge. There are, of course, Carlyle's
classic description of Coleridge on the brow of
Highgate Hill, and the annoyingly inadequate
entries in Crabb Eobinson's Diary. We have
also accounts of sporadic visits to Highgate by
Landor, Emerson, Miss Martineau, and others.
The present discovery is of sufficient importance
to rank with the latter, and is particularly inter-
esting as an evidence of early German appreciation
of Coleridge' s fame.
The book in question is entitled Skizzen Eng-
lischer Charaktere und Englischer gesellschaftlicher
Zustdnde von Anton Langerhanns (Leipzig, Koll-
man, 1839). There is in the British Museum a
second part dated 1840, which I have not seen.
Langerhanns, upon his arrival in England, pre-
sented a letter of introduction to a Mr. M 1,
who received him cordially, entertained him re-
peatedly and arranged for the visit to Coleridge
at Highgate. When they arrived on the ap-
pointed evening they found a group of gentlemen
assembled about the poet, but unfortunately Lan-
gerhanns records no names. He does, however,
report the gist of the conversation, which was
principally upon matters dramatic — the art of
Miss Kemble, a good anecdote of the actor George
Frederick Cooke, related by Coleridge himself,
and remarks on Mrs. Siddons, Miss Farren, and
David Garrick. Coleridge gave his explanation
of the difference between genius and talent, using
62
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 2.
Sheridan's comedies in illustration. The party
broke up at eleven o'clock, and Langerhanns
was pressed warmly by Coleridge to call again.
He records his regret that circumstances pre-
vented his seeing the poet again. Like virtually
every other participant in these symposia at High-
gate, he deplores his inability to convey any ade-
quate impression of the brilliant conversation of
his host. The thirty pages of Langerhanns' book
devoted to the evening with Coleridge are an
interesting addition to the scanty material illus-
trating the poet's later years.
JOHN Louis HANEY.
Central High School, Philadelphia.
AN ALLUSION IN LOPE DE VEGA.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — In Lope de Vega's play, entitled El
Domine Lucas, there is a passage which seems to
me to contain a personal allusion. Fabricio has
been betrayed by his friend Kosardo. The latter
has apparently been successful in his suit for the
hand of Lucrecia with whom Fabricio is also in.
love. As a matter of fact, Lucrecia' s consent has
been only a trick. In reality, she loves neither of
the two ; but Fabricio fancies himself to be ag-
grieved by both Rosardo and Lucrecia. Address-
ing the former, he says :
Vendido me has ; que a todos es notorio ;
Mas primero veras tu muerte dura
Que el clandestine yfalso desposorio.
Ni gozaras, si puedo, la perjura,
Infame rama del linaje Osorio,
Porqiie esta espada ve.nga.ra mi agraxio. *
Is there not here an allusion to that Elena
Osorio, who was for four years Lope's mistress,
the Filis of his early verse ? The discoveries of
Perez Pastor2 have revealed the fact that Lope's
ten year sentence of banishment from Madrid was
the punishment for having libelled the actor,
Jeronimo Velazquez, the latter' s wife, Ines Osorio,
1 Comedias de Lope de Vega (ed. Hartzenbusch, Ma-
drid, 1859), Vol. i, p. 55.
' Pdrez Pastor, Proceso de Lope de Vega par libelos contra
unos cmnicos, Madrid, 1901.
and his daughter, Elena Osorio. El Domine Lucas
was written previous to 1595, when Lope left Alba
deTormes.3 Lope's period of exile began in 1588.
The play, therefore, must have been written while
Lope was still in banishment and bitterly resentful
toward his former mistress and her family. Fur-
thermore, the play was produced by Melchor de
Villalba, who had formerly belonged to the troupe
of the autor, Jeronimo Velazquez. The allusion,
then, would have been intelligible to the actors
and probably to many of the audience who must
have known the reasons for Lope's banishment.
If I am right in my conjecture, the passage quoted
is interesting as showing that Lope continued his
malicious attacks on the Osorios even during the
time that he was undergoing punishment for pre-
vious lampoons.
G. T. NORTHUP.
Princeton University.
ENGLISH rasher : SPANISH raja.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — According to the Diccionario of the
Spanish Academy (Madrid, 1899), the word raja
has the following meanings : (1) una de laspartes
de un lelio que resultan de abrirlo al hilo con
hacha, cuna u otro instrwnento ; (2) hendedura,
abertura 6 quiebra de una cosa; (3) pedazo quese
corta & lo largo 6 A lo ancho de unfruto, 6 de
algunos otros comestibles, como melon, sandia,
queso, etc. The last of these, " a piece cut length-
wise or crosswise from fruit or certain other edi-
bles, as squash, melon, cheese," seems to be
nearly the same as English rasher ' ' slice. ' ' It
is not clear whether raja is used of meat ; but it
certainly might have been so used, for its dimi-
nutive rajita is applied to a slice of sausage : una
rajita de salchichon, Palacio Valdfis, La alegria
del Capit&n Ribot, cap. x (page 161, Madrid,
1899).
In modern Castilian, j is like ch in German or
Dutch acht ; but formerly Spanish j and x had
'Bennert, Life of Lope de Vega, p. 100. Itennert,
Spanish Actors and Actresses, Revue Hispanique, Vol. XVI,
p. 531.
February, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
63
the sound of English sh. This older sound is
kept in Asturian and Galician (see Modern Phil-
ology, vol. 4, p. 279, October, 1906); also in E.
sherry and French Quichotte Chimhie, from Xerez
Quixote Ximena, now written Jerez Quijote Jimena.
As English a was like Spanish a until the six-
teenth century, there would have then been no
great difference between rasher and the etymon
raja, aside from the endings. Since native words
do not have the ending a in modern English, it is
not strange that the final vowel should have
become er. Vulgar English nowadays often
avoids final a (a) by giving it the sound of er or
oft/ : extry idear. If any further explanation of the
added r is needed, it may be found in the phonetic
development of bridegroom philosopher participle
syllable, French perdrix esclandre, Italian bales-
tra scheletro, Spanish estrella rastrillo : namely,
the tendency to insert I or r in a word already
containing one of these two sounds.
E. H. TUTTLE.
New Haven, Conn.
VOLTAIRE AND DUMAS.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — The plot in fiction seems to be increas-
ing every day, as the mass of studies in compara-
tive literature grows. A striking example of this
fact is evident when we make a rapprochement of
two scenes in fiction, one taken from Voltaire's
' ' Ingeuu, ' ' the other from Dumas' ' ' Monte-
Cristo."
The Ingenu, an unsophisticated Indian, has
been imprisoned in the Bastille for no fault of his
own. There he meets an old Jansenist who
welcomes him with open arms. Then follows an
account of the education of the Indian by the
Jansenist. The pupil quickly learns all that the
Jansenist has to teach him of literature, history,
and philosophy, and surprises his teacher by the
brilliancy of his intellect. In return for the
Jansenist' s good services, the Ingenu solaces him
for his misfortunes by the love and reverence he
bestows upon the old man.
Compare this situation with the major portion
of the Chateau d'lf (the first part of Monte-
Cristo). Edmond Dantes is unjustly cast into
prison, and there meets the wise Abb6 Faria.
Edmond, like the Ingenu, is a simple, ignorant
fellow, but under the tutelage of the Abbe Faria
he makes marvellous progress in the study of
history, philosophy, and science.
Except for the didacticism in the story of Vol-
taire, the episodes are almost identical in the
characterization of the personages, in the situa-
tions, and in many of the ideas developed.
Dumas undoubtedly knew his Voltaire : did he
borrow his scene from the "Ingeuu " ?
SHIRLEY GALE PATTERSON.
Cornell University.
DANCE MACABRE.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — The etymology of the word Macabre, in
the phrase Dance Macabre, has long been disputed ;
the Oxford English Dictionary sanctions only the
possible corruption of Maccabceus, from the Mac-
cabees, heroes and martyrs of Christian legend.
The late Gaston Paris, in a note printed Romania,
24, 130, suggested that Le Fevre, whose allusion
" Je fis de macabre la dance" dates from 1376,
may have been referring to his verse by the name
of the painter whose work he used ; he adds ' ' II
est done tres possible qu'un Francais du xivme
siecle se soit appele Macabre. ' '
May I say that in Rymer's Fcedera, vol. ix, p.
672, I find, in a list of French clergy paying
homage to Henry V, the name of a capellanus of
Reiville, Laurentius Machabre, and that the cleric
who heads this body of parochial clergy is capel-
lanus "de Dez Innocens." As the fresco of the
Dance Macabre, the verses of which Lydgate
translated into English, was painted in 1424 in
the Church of the Innocents at Paris, the colloca-
tion is suggestive. The submission of the clergy
above mentioned was made in 1419, forty years
later than Le Fevre ; but the confirmation of one
part of Paris.' suggestion raises interesting possi-
bilities concerning the rest of it.
ELEANOR PRESCOTT HAMMOND.
Chicago.
64
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 2.
A NOTE ON Paradise Lost, 1, 351-5.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS: — In the passage of which the lines in
question are a part, Milton has been describing
the followers of Satan as they rise from off the
burning lake, and then he says of them, beginning
with line 351 :
A multitude like which the populous North
Pound never from her frozen loins to pass
Rhene or the Danaw, when her barbarous sons
Came like a deluge on the South, and spread
Beneath Gibraltar to the Libyan sands.
The commentators from Todd to Mr. Verity
agree that this is a reference to the Teutonic
invasions of Southern Europe ; but they quote no
early authorities for the epithet populous. Is it
absurd to ask if Milton may not have had in
mind passages like the following : Habet quoque
ipse inmensus pelagus in parte arctoa, id est
septentrionali, amplam insulam nomine Scandzam,
unde nobis sermo, si dominus iuvaverit, est adsu-
mendus, quia gens, cuius originem flagitas, ab
huius insulce gremio velut examen apium erumpem,
in terram Europte advenit. Jordanis, De Ori-
gine Actlbusque Getarum, 1. Septentrionalis plaga
quanto magis ab sestu solis remota est et nivali
frigore gelida, tanto salubrior corporibus hominum
et propagandis est gentibus coaptata ; sicut econtra
omnis meridiana regio, quo solis est fervori vici-
nior, eo semper morbis habundat et educandis
minus est apta mortalibus. Unde fit, ut tantaj
populorum multitudines arctoo sub axe oriantur,
ut non inmerito universa ilia regio Tanai tenus
usque ad occiduum, licet et propriis loca in ea
singula nuncupentur nominibus, generali tamen
vocabulo Germania vocitetur ; . . . . Ab hac
ergo populosa Germania saepe innumerabiles cap-
tivorum turmse abductse meridianis populis pretio
distrahuntur. Multse quoque ex ea, pro eo quod
tantos mortalium germinat, quantos alere vix
sufficit, ssepe gentes egressse sunt, quse nihilomi-
nus et partes Asise, sed maxime sibi contiguam
Europam adflixerunt. Testantur hoc ubique
urbes erutse per totam Illiricum Galliamque, sed
maxime miserae Italise, qua? pene omnium ilia-
rum est gentium experta ssevitiam. Paulus Dia-
conus, Historia Langobardorum 1. 1. (Attention
is called especially to the expressions in italics. )
Todd, quoting Newton, says that Sir William
Temple called Germany the Northern hive. Waitz
in the Monwnenta edition of Paulus cites Isidore
of Seville, Etymologies, xiv, 4. 4, where the name
Germania is derived from germinare.
ALLEH R. BENHAM.
The University of Washington.
A COREECTION.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — My suggestion, MLN., xxiv, 10, that
certain lines of Alexander Barclay refer to Boc-
caccio, is quite wrong. They refer to the contest
between ' Alithia ' and ' Pseustis, ' in the Ecloga
Theoduli. See Professor Skeat's note, Athenceum,
Mar. 1, 1902.
WILFRED P. MUSTARD.
Jan. 20, 1909.
BRIEF MENTION.
OLD PORTUGUESE TEXTS.
Textos Archaieos para uso da aula de philologia
portuguesa establecida na Bibliotheca Naeional
de Lisbon par portaria de 31 de Dezembro de
1903, coordenados, annotados e proveidos de
um glossario pelo Dr. J. LEITE DE VASCON-
CELLOS. 2a edi9ao (ampliada). Lisboa: A.
M. Teixeirae Cia ; 1908. 8vo., 160 pp.
In this book the well-known scholar, and editor
of the Revida Lusitana, publishes a series of Por-
tuguese texts ranging from the earliest Latin-Por-
tuguese legal documents to selections of lyric
poetry of the sixteenth century, and including a
chapter on Galician legal prose of xm-xiv cen-
turies. The critical apparatus embraces an all
too brief summary of the salient features of Old-
Portuguese phonology, morphology and syntax ;
an ' ' historia externa do idioma gallego ' ' ; vocabu-
lary of both common and proper nouns, in which
the Latin, Portuguese and Galiciau forms are
conveniently differentiated by means of different
types. This scholarly little book is a valuable
manual for the beginner in Old Portuguese, and
contains, furthermore, a mass of important and
suggestive material for the mature worker in
Romance philology.
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES
VOL. XXIV.
BALTIMORE, MARCH, 1909.
No. 3.
CRISEIDA.1
I.
No autograph MS. of the Filostrato is known to
exist. The following MS. readings for the name
of the heroine have been reported : Florence,
Laur. XLI, 27 (fifteenth cent), in the title of
Part i, Cryseyda 2 ; XLI, 29 (early fifteenth
cent.), m the title, Criseida'; Biblioteca Nazio-
nale, Palat. 354 (fourteenth cent), in the title,
Griseida 3 ; London, British Museum, Addit.
21246 (early fifteenth cent), Griseyda through-
out * ; Madrid, Biblioteca Nacioual, Reserv. 6a-4
(fifteenth cent), in the title of Part i, Criseyda.*
I owe to the kindness of Miss Jackson the infor-
mation that the Filostrato MS. of the Plimpton
collection at Wellesley (which she has identified,
as she will show in a forthcoming publication, as
a MS. assigned by D'Ancona to the fourteenth
century) reads Griseida throughout. The fol-
lowing readings of editions have been reported
or are accessible to me : 1st ed. (Venice), Luca
Veneto (about 1480-1483), in the title, gri-
seida' ; 2d, Bologna, 1498, in the title, Qry-
seida* ; 3rd, Milan, Ulderich Scinzenzeler, 1499,
1 The writing of this paper was occasioned by a request
from Professor J. L. Lowes for information as to the MS.
readings of the Decameron for the name in question, and
by a statement from him of the bearing of Boccaccio's
spelling of the name upon the argument as to the date of
the Troilus and Criscyde. I owe several suggestions to the
kindness of Professor Kittredge.
2 A. M. Bandini, Catalogue codicum manuscripiorum bi-
bliotheca: medicea: laurentiance, vol. V, Florence, 1778, col.
134.
' F. Palermo, / manoscritti palatini di Firenze, vol. I,
Florence, 1853, p. 625.
4 Except for three occurrences of Briseyda at the begin-
ning. J. S. P. Tatlock. The Development and Chronology of
Chaucer's Works (= Ckmcer Society' s Publications, 2d series,
no. 37), 1907, p. 31, n. 4.
6 M. SchifF, La biblioiheque du Marquis de Santillane '
(= BibliothZque de I' Ecole des Hautes Etudes, fasc. 153),
Paris, 1905, p. 328.
in the title, Gryseida" ; 6th, ed. by L. Baroni,
Paris. 1789, Griseida throughout ; 7th and last,
ed. by I. Moutier (= Boccaccio, Opere volgari,
vol. 13), Florence, 1831, Griseida throughout.
W. Herzberg states, without reference, that the
name appears as Oryseida "in den alteren
Drucken." 7
Chaucer, in the Troilus and Criseyde," and
Louis of Beauvau, in his translation of the
Filostrato (about 1442-1445), 9 wrote the name
with a C.
The same name appears in the Decameron, in
the introduction to the 6th giornata, in the sen-
tence : " E Dioneo insieme con Lauretta di
Trojolo e di Criseida cominciarono a cantare." 10
The reference is evidently to the Filostrato. The
Berlin MS. Hamilton 90 (1384 or earlier), the
most authoritative MS. of the Decameron,11 reads
criseida.12 In view of the unusual excellence of
this MS. its reading has particular weight. The
same spelling reappears in the Florentine MS.
6F. Zambrini, Le opere volgari a stampa dei secoli xiii e
xiv, Bologna, 1878, p. 175. Palermo (op. cit., p. 626)
mentions a copy of the 3rd ed. in the Palatine collection
in which the name appears in the title as Bryseida. The
4th and 5th editions were published at Venice, in 1501
and J 528 respectively.
''Die Qu^llen der Troilus-Sage in ihrem Verhaltniss zu
Shakespeare's 'Troilus und Oressida,' in Jahrb. d. deutschen
Shakespeare-Gesellschaft, vi (1871), 1S7.
8 W. W. Skeat, The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer,
yol. II, Oxford, 1894, pp. Ixiv-lxv.
9 II. Hauvette, Les phis anciennes traductions francaises
de Boccace, in Bulletin italicn, VH ( 1907), pp. 298-308.
In some MSS. a B replaces the C.
10 Ed. P. Fanfani, vol. n, Florence, 1904, p. 81.
11 A. Tobler, Die Berliner Ilandschrift des Decameron, in
Silzungsb. d. K. Preuss. Akad. d. Wissenschaften zu Berlin,
1887, p. 375 ; L. Biadene, II codice Berlinese del Decame-
ron, in Giorn. star. d. lett. ital, x (1887), 296 ; O. Hecker,
Die Berliner Decameron- Handschrift und ihr Verhdltniss zum
Codice Mannelli, Berlin (1892), reviewed by Hauvette in
Giorn. star. d. lett. Hal., xxi (1893), 407; Hecker, Delia
parentela esistente fra il manoscritlo berlinese del Decameron ed
il codice Mannelli, in Giorn. star. d. lett. Hal., xxvi (1895),
162.
"Tobler, op. cit., p. 402,
66
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 3.
Laur. XLII, 1 (the Mannelli MS., copied from the
Berlin MS. in 1384).18
The heroine of the Filostrato is referred to as
Orisaida in the Cueur d' amour espris (1457) of
Ren6 of Anjou,1* and as Griseyda in Tirant lo
Blanch (late fifteenth cent.).15 A Qriseide ap-
pears in the Comedieta de Ponza (shortly after
1434) of the Marquis of Santillana.15 Under the
influence, evidently, of the Filostrato, the forms
Oriseida, Griseida appear in three Florentine MSS.
of Guido's Hystoria troiana: Gadd. 45 (fifteenth
cent.), Palat. 89-44 (fifteenth cent.), and 154
(1374). w
There is a phonetic tendency in Italian, not,
however, consistently carried through, to change
initial cr to gr." As a result of this tendency
there are in the language about a score of cr- =
gr- doublets, the cr- form being always relatively
learned, the gr- form relatively popular. Among
the score are crisantemo — grisantemo, the gr-
fonn being vulgar ; crisolito = grisolito, the two
forms being equally common ; and Crinostomo =
Orisostoino, the Gr- form being the more common.
Scribal interchange of cr- and gr- is therefore
natural. Change of cr- to gr- is more natural
than the reverse change. Familiarity with the
name Griselda might have furthered scribal
change from Oriseida to Griseida or prevented
change from Griseida to Criseida.
The name is certainly a deliberately formed
representative of the classic name Chryseis.
The only works containing the name Chryseis
known to Boccaccio at the time of the composition
of the Filostrato were, in all probability, Ovid's
Remedia amoris, in which the name occurs in line
469, and Tristia, in which, in the majority of
MSS., the name occurs erroneously, instead of
Briseis, in book n, line 373. I owe to the kind-
13 II Decameron di M. Gio. Boccaccio Tratlo daW Ottimo
Testa Scritto da Fran™ D' Amaretto Mannelli SulV Originate
deW Autore (Lucca), 1761, p. 211.
"Hauvette, Lesplus ancicnnes Iraductions, p. 307, n. 16.
16 A. Farinelli, Note sul Boccaccio in Ispagna neW Eld,
Media, in Archiv f. d. Studium d. neu. Sprachen u. Liter-
aturen, cxvn (1906), 116-119. In certain other early
Spanish works (lie initial is B.
16 H. Morf, review of Gorra, Tesliinediti di storia troiana,
in Romania, xxi (1892), 101, n. 1.
17 S. I'ieri, / riflessi italiani delle esplosive sorde Ira vocali,
in Ardiimo glott. Hal., XV (1901), 388,
ness of Mr. "W. H. Freeman, who is studying the
MSS. of the Remedia, the information that of ten
MSS. eight have criseida, one has chriseida, and
one Briseida. In the Tristia, fourteen MSS. have
the correct reading, Brifseidos, six have Chryseidos,
seventeen have criseidos, and one has crisesidos.™
Boccaccio's autograph Rubriche dantesche show
" grafia alia latina." 19 His early literary habits,
in general, were learned. It is inherently prob-
able that he would have retained the spelling of
his Latin model, very improbable that he would
deliberately have constructed a more popular
form.
From the evidence adduced it follows that the
initial of the name, as Boccaccio first wrote it,
was, in all probability, C.
The fact that no h appears in any of the Filo-
strato or Decameron readings reported and that the
name Chrysostom is spelled crlsostomum in the au-
tograph MS. of the Genologia deorumm affords
strong evidence that Boccaccio wrote the name
without an h.
The evidence as to whether the first and third
vowels were i or y is too extensive and unsatis-
factory to deserve presentation here. The balance
of probability seems to favor the i in both cases.
II.
The classic works known to Boccaccio at the
time of the composition of the Filostrato afforded
him ample acquaintance with the role of Briseis
as the love of Achilles ; of Chryseis he had, in
all probability, no classic source of knowledge
other than the passages in the Remedia and the
Tristia in which the name occurs. These passages
are as follows :
Hem. 467 Vidit ut Atrides (quid enim non ille videret,
Cuius in arbitrio Grsccia tota fuit?)
Marte suo captara Chryseida, victor amabat,
470 At senior stulte flebat ubique pater ;
Quid lacrimas, odiose senex? beue convenit
illis :
Officio natam bedis, inepte, tuo.
18 Tristium libri V, ed. S. G. Owen, Oxford, 1889, p. 71.
19 G. Vandelli, Rubriche dantesche di Giovanni Boccaccio
pubblicnte di su Fautografo Chiyiano, Florence, Landi, 1908
(wedding publication). Cf. Giorn. star. d. kit. ital., Lil
(1908), 456.
20 Hecker, Boccaccio- Funde, Braunschweig, 1902, p, 255.
March, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
67
473 Quam postquam reddi Calchas ope tutus
Achillis
lusserat, et patriast ilia recepta domo,
1 Est' ait Atrides ' illius proxima forma,
Et, si prima sinat syllaba, noraen idem :
Hanc mihi, sisapiat, per seconcedat Achilles;
Si minus, imperium sentiat ille meum !
. ' 21
Trist. II 371 Ilias ipsa quid est aliud, nisi adultera, de qua
inter amatorem pugna uirumque fuit ?
quid prius est illi flamma Chryseidos, utque
fecerit iratos rapta puella duces ? M
In the Roman de Troie Boccaccio found Briseis
playing a part very different from that assigned
her by the ancients. He found there, too, in the
last part of the poem, as Professor Kittredge has
pointed out to me, a detailed narrative represent-
ing the classic version of the Chryseis- Briseis
story, in which, however, the names Chryseis and
Briseis do not appear, Chryseis being called As-
trinome and Briseis Ypodomia. Their fathers
appear as Crises and Brises.13
Comparison of these very different accounts must
have produced, in the mind of Boccaccio, certainty
that Benoit was wrong in making Briseis the lady
of Troilus, and perplexity as to the real identity
of that lady. His acceptance of the Ovidian
Briseis is evidenced by his own references to her,
as Briseida, in other early works.24
He was led to the hypothesis that Chryseis was
the lady of Troilus, I believe, by a misinterpreta-
tion of the passage of the Remedia quoted above,
consisting in the identification of the unnamed,
entreating pater of line 470 with the prevailing
Calchas of line 473. Such identification might
have been furthered by this parallelism between
the Ovidian pater and the Calchas of Benoit :
each requests of Agamemnon that his daughter,
from whom he has been separated, be allowed to
join him.25 Benoit' s Briseis was daughter to Cal- .
chas : here in the Remedia, apparently, was a
"Ovid, ed. B. Merkel and E. Ehwald, Leipzig, 1888,
vol. i, pp. 259-260.
"Ed. cit., loc. tit. I substitute, after the majority of
MSS., the reading Chryseidos for the correct reading
Briseidos.
23 Ed. A. Joly, vol. ii, Paris, 1871, 11. 26747-26907.
24 K. Young, The Oriijin and Development of the Story of
Troilus and Criseydc (= Chaucer Society' s Publications, 2d
series, no. 40), 1908, p. 1, n. 1.
KLe Roman de Troie, ed. L. Constans, vol. II, Paris,
190G, 11. 1308G-13120.
daughter of Calchas not Briseis, — consequently,
the proper person to replace Briseis in the Troilus
romance.28
When, in later life, Boccaccio studied the first
pages of his Homer, he found the authoritative
account, an account with which his own Criseida
story was as much at variance as the Briseida
story of Benoit had been. In the Genologia
deorwn, xn, 52, he summarizes the Homeric
account, and in so doing refrains from naming
either the priest of Apollo or his daughter : "...
plures ciuitates hostium ccepit [se. Achilles],
segitque predam ingentem, et inter alia uirginem
sacerdotis Apollinis filiam, quam Agamemnon!
concessit, et Briseidam, quam seque ceperat sibi
reseruauit. Sane cum iam iussu deorum oportuis-
set Agamemnonem sacerdoti natam restituere,
Briseidam illi surripuit. Quamobrem indignatus
Achilles diu stetit. . ." "
The silence seems to indicate either some linger-
ing of the old perplexity, or else unwillingness to
admit the erroneousness of having made Chryseis
the lady of Troilus.
E. H. WlLKINS.
Harvard University.
POEMS IN THE STANZA OF IN
MEMORIAM.1
Since In Memoriam was first published, there
have been many misstatements about prior in-
stances of the stanza, and many conjectures about
26Skeat (op. cit., loc. cit.) suggests that Chaucer's change
of the initial from Q to C was due to acquaintance with
this passage of the Remedia. Professor Kittredge, in an
essay prepared before this paper and now in process of
publication by the Chaucer Society, suggests that this
passage of the Remedia influenced Boccaccio in changing
the initial from B to G, points out Boccaccio's necessary
dissatisfaction with the assignment of Briseis to the part
she plays in the Roman de Troie, and makes with regard
to Armannino (cf. Gorra, op. cil., p. 555) practically the
same suggestion as to the misinterpretation of the Remedia
passage which I make with regard to Boccaccio. My
conclusion was reached before I knew of Professor Kit-
tredge's essay.
"Ed. I. Micyllus, Basle, 1532, p. 308.
'See Mod. Lang. Notes for December, 1906, for a discus-
sion of the technique of the stanza, with reasons why it has
been so little usec!.
68
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 3.
Tennyson's indebtedness to others. Tennyson's
debt to his predecessors may easily be disposed
of, for he said himself (Memoir, i, 305) :
"And as for the metre of 'In Memoriam ' I
had no notion until 1880 that Lord Herbert of
Cherbury had written his occasional verses in the
same metre. I believed myself the originator of
the metre, until after ' In Memoriam ' came out,
. when some one told me that Ben Jonson and Sir
Philip Sidney had used it."
Sir Philip Sidney, it may be said at once, did not
use the stanza of In Memoriam, tho he did use the
rhyme-scheme with seven-syllable lines, as did
also Shakespeare, Carew, and Marvell. Indeed,
the abba rhyme-scheme has been used in English
with nearly thirty different combinations of line-
length. The abba stanza with pentameter lines,
however, is the only one which has been often
used.
Tennyson's own statement, quoted above, is
clear and positive ; but there is another account
which I have not seen in print. My friend, Mr.
Harry L. Koopman, tells me that Dr. Shepherd of
Charleston College reported a tradition that Ten-
nyson got the first suggestion of his stanza from
Wm. Hewell, who, in a lecture to his class, which
included Tennyson, happened to say, with great
emphasis and accidental rhyme and rhythm, that :
" There is no power however great
Can stretch a cord, however fine,
Into a horizontal line,
And draw it accurately straight."
The various misstatements about prior instances
of the stanza need not be quoted here, as the
following list is a collection of facts which many
have known, but which no one has hitherto taken
the trouble to put together :
1611. Ben Jonson, Chorus at end of Act n,
of Catiline, 11 sts. No one, I think, has thus
far noticed either that this chorus is in the stanza
of In Memoriam, or that it appeared, with some
changes, in a broadside, dated (in ink) 'March
31, 1660,' altho a correspondent printed the
broadside in the Athenaeum for March 14, 1857,
with the following comment :
"Suppose these lines, with a few obvious altera-
tions, to make their appearance in to-days' jour-
nals, who would doubt that the Laureate had
been expressing his hopes and prayers as to the
constitution of the new Parliament ? How appro-
priate to the conjuncture they would appear ! — how
distinctly would the friends of Lord Palmerston
discover a compliment to their leader's firmness
in the last line but one ! ["Nor did they leave
the helm in storms."] Amazing, however, as is
the resemblance to one of the most marked of the
many styles of the poet of our time, it is needless
to say that he is very guiltless of having had any-
thing to do with the piece, which is one of the
Luttrell collection of broadsides. . . . There is no
indication of date or authorship ; but the general
tone of the composition, the allusion to the na-
tional desire for a free parliament, the mention of
a commonwealth, and the absence of any reference
to royalty, show that it must have been written
by a Republican in the spring of 1660, during
the temporary dictatorship of General Monk. ' '
The only important changes from Jonson are in
the first nine lines, which in the broadside read
as follows :
"Great God of Nations, and their Eight,
By whose high Auspice Brittain stands
So long, though first 'twas built on Sands ;
And oft had sunk but for thy might.
In her own Mainland-storms and Seas ;
Be present to her now as then,
And let not proud and factious men
Oppose thy will with what they please.
Our free full Senate's to be made."
1616. Ben Jonson, Elegy " Though beauty be
the mark of praise, ' ' 9 sts. Commonly supposed
to be Jon son's only poem in this form.
Ante 1619. Francis Davison (editor of the
(Poetical Rhapsody), Psalm cxxv, 6 sts. Pub-
lished from MS. by Farr in 1845, and, I think, by
Brydges in 1814-17.
1636. George Sandys, 5 Psalms, 58 sts.
1640. Christopher Harvey, The Epiphany, or
Twelfth Day, 8 sts.
Ante 1648. Lord Herbert of Cherbury, two
poems, 44 sts., first published in 1664-5. The
longest of them, An Ode upon a question moved
whether love should continue forever, 35 sts., has
been often cited since Mr. Churton Collins pointed
out that Herbert anticipated Tennyson in "some
of its most beautiful effects. ' ' Lord Herbert also
wrote three poems, 16 sts., with the enclosed
rhymes, but pentameter lines.
(George Herbert's The Temper, 4 sts., has been
said to have the stanza of In Memoriam ; its first
March, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
69
and fourth lines, however, are pentameters, and
its effect hardly the same, as the first two stanzas
will show :
" It cannot be. Where is that mighty joy
Which just now took up all my heart?
Lord, if thou must needs use this dart,
Save that, and me ; or sin for both destroy.
The grosser world stands to thy word and art :
But thy diviner world of grace
Thou suddenly doest raise and raze,
And every day a new creator art.")
1649. John Smith, Horace, Bk. i, Ode xxir,
' To Aristius Fuscus. That integritie of life is
always safe, which he prooves by his example.
To Sir Philip Parker.' As this has not, so far as
I am aware, been noticed before, I quote it :
" Whose life is just, and from sins pure,
No Maurian darts, nor bow needs bear,
O Fuscus, nor no quiver wear,
Of poisoned shafts, from harms secure.
Whether by searching sands he takes
His journey, or through Caucase cold,
Or through those places where with gold,
Hydaspes slides, his way he makes.
For whilst in Sabine woods I sung,
My Lalage from all cares free,
Passing my bounds ; a Wolfe did flee
From me unarm'd, and did no wrong.
None such doth warlike Daunia feed,
In her vast Lawns of monstrous kind,
Nor Jubas purched soil doth find,
Though Nurce of Lions such can breed.
Now place me under that cold Clime,
Where trees refresh' d with no sweet gale,
Where constant storms of snow and hail,
Where always winter, never prime.
Or underneath Sols flaming rayes,
Where never mortals yet did dwell,
For smiling and for speaking well,
There Lalaye I'le love and praise."
1687. Philip Ayres, His Heart, into a Bird,
3 sts.
1692. Matthew Prior's Verses to Charles Mon-
tague, afterwards Lord Halifax, have been said
to be in the In Memoriam stanza, entirely because
Thackeray, in his English Humorists, quoted two
stanzas with enclosed rhymes. The passage in
Thackeray's Lecture on "Prior, Gay, and Pope"
runs as follows :
" In his verses addressed to Halifax, he says, writing
of that endless theme to poets, the vanity of human
wishes —
' So whilst in fevered dreams we sink,
And waking, taste what we desire,
The real draught but feeds the fire,
The dream is better than the drink.
Our hopes like towering falcons aim
At objects in an airy height :
To stand aloof and view the flight,
Is all the pleasure of the game.'
Would you not fancy that a poet of our own days was
singing?"
These stanzas are the first and the sixth in
early editions of Prior's poem, tho the first stanza
disappeared from later editions. In all editions
of the poem that I have been able to find, includ-
ing one of 1693, and various copies of an edition
of 1692, the stanzas rhyme abab, so it is likely
that Thackeray shifted the lines himself in order
to emphasize the resemblance between Prior and
Tennyson. In one copy of an edition of 1692,
the stanzas run :
"So, whilst in feverish sleeps we think
We taste what waking we desire,
The dream is better than the drink,
Which only feeds the sickly fire.
Our hopes like tow' ring falcons aim
At objects in an airy height.
The little pleasure of the game
Is from afar to view the flight."
Ante 1720. John Hughes (d. 1720 ; the editor
of Spenser), a Dialogue from the French of M. De
la Motte, 6 sts. The original French was also in
this stanza.
1727?. Wm. Somervile, Fable vm, The Oyster,
7 sts.
1743. Charles Jennens, a single stanza in the
oratorio of Belshazzar, the music by Handel.
1755, March. Tobias Smollett, two uncon-
nected stanzas in his translation of Don Quixote, II,
iii, 6. The original Spanish is in the same stanza.
1762. John Hall Stevenson, Don Prinzello's
Tale: The fellowship of the Holy Nuns; or the
Monk's wise judgment, 18 sts. This, the eighth
of his Crazy Tales, is as flippant in its metre as in
its substance, for half of its stanzas contain femi-
nine rhymes.
1766. John Langhorne, Ode to the Genius of
70
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
{Vol. xxiv, No. 3.
Westmoreland, 6 sts. In 1771, the first stanza
of Langhorne's Fable III, The Laurel and the
Reed, is in enclosed rhymes, altho the rest of the
poem, like most of his other Fables, rhymes abab.
1793. Boscawen, Horace, Odes, I, 5 : "What
youth bedewed with moist perfume," 4 sts.
1795. Wm. W'ordsworth, one stanza in the
Birth of Love, a poem in ten stanzas, irregular in
rhyme-scheme, in number of lines, and in length
of line.
1806. P. L. Courtier, two stanzas, apparently
his own, in an anthology which he called The
Lyre of Love :
' ' I wonder if her heart be still !
The same that once I fondly met.
Will she her plighted faith forget?
Or she my dearest hopes fulfill ?
I fear to pen the wish'd request,
To ask if all within be so ?
I almost dread the truth to know :
So changeful seems the human breast ! "
Ante 1811. John Leyden, M. D. (d. 1811),
The Fight of Praya. A Malay Dirge, 8 sts.
1820. Robt. Anderson, The Poor Prude, 4 sts.
(According to J. M. Dixon, in an article on
Tennyson's In Memoriam, in Queen's Quarterly,
in, No. 2 (October, 1895), Walter Savage Lan-
dor wrote in this stanza a poem called The French
Villagers, but I have been unable to find it. In
Dry Sticks, 1858, Landor published three stanzas
Written in Sickness, in which pentameter lines
rhyme abba.)
1833. Alfred Tennyson, You ask me why, 1
sts. , and Love thou thy land, 24 sts. , both first
published in 1842.
(1834. A. H. Hallam is said to have written
a poem in this stanza, which presumably appeared
in the first edition of his poems. I have not been
able to find a copy of that edition, but no such
poem is in the editions of 1853 or 1863, or in the
reprints by Richard LeGallienne or Mr. Gollancz. )
1847. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, My Sister's Sleep,
15 sts. Published early in 1850. In his Poems,
1870, Rossetti records (p. 169) :
"This little poem, written in 1847, was printed
in a periodical at the outset of 1850. The metre,
which is used by several old English writers,
became celebrated a month or two later on the
publication of In Memoriam."
1849. Arthur Hugh Clough, Peschiera, 10
sts., and Alteram Partem, 5 sts. In 1850, Clough
also wrote 5 stanzas in the measure in Scene in
of Dipsychus.
1850, June. Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam.
Omitting Tennyson, this list comprises 25
poems by 17 poets (only four of whom — Jonson,
Sandys, Lord Herbert, and Clongh — used the
stanza in more than one poem), and single stanzas
by three other poets. These instances of the use of
single stanzas are interesting, like the shorter
poems, because they show how some poets chanced
upon the stanza, and passed on, without recognis-
ing its possibilities. Before Tennyson, no one but
Lord Herbert of Cherbury made any use of
the stanza that could by any possibility be called
extensive, and in the other cases its use was
certainly desultory and experimental.
EDWARD PAYSON MORTON.
Indiana University.
NOTES ON THE SPANISH YSOPO
OF 1496.
The following results are based upon an exam-
ination of the copy of the Ysopo of Burgos, 1496
(Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, Re's. Y. 6108, at
present on display in Exposition vn, 153), to
which Morel-Fatio has devoted an article in the
Romania, Vol. xxm, pp. 561-575. The text is
rightly considered to be a Spanish version of
Stainhowel's well-known collection, and is prob-
ably a reprint of the Saragossa edition of 1489.
The fables, however, that are added to the orig-
inal Stainhowel collection, as mentioned by Morel-
Fatio, are found for the first time in the Burgos
text. Hervieux, Fabulhtes latins, Vol. i2, p.
423, gives the number of fables in the last divi-
sion of the Saragossa edition as 22, while the
later edition has 26. But further light is thrown
upon this difference in number by a passage in the
explicit of the two texts : the Saragossa edition
reads: "co otras extra vagantes. el qual fue
sacado de latin, etc."; while the Burgos edition
refers to its added fables thus : "con otras extra-
vagantes 7 afiadidas. ' ' The Burgos text is there-
March, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
71
fore more than a mere reprint, for it adds some
fables on its own account.
A careful examination shows that certain state-
ments of the above-mentioned article must be
revised. To quote: "Jusqu'au dernier groupe
de fables, le texte espagnol suit exactement le
texte de P Edition de Steinhowel ; mais il y a quel-
ques changements dans les 'collectes.' Le tra-
ducteur espagnol a omis les n°s- xvm (De ypo-
crita et muliere vidua), xix (De iuvencula
impotentiam mariti accusante), xxi (De monstris
aliquibus) et xxm (De vulpe et gallo et cani-
bus), ce qui r6duit a dix-neuf ses emprunts au
Steinhowel. En revanche, il ajoute sept contes
qu'il a pris ailleurs." As a matter of fact,
besides a minor change in Book i, No. xi (where
the Latin has "Ass and Boar," while the Span-
ish fable is entitled "Lion and Ass"), there is
an important variation in Book in, No. vm of
the Spanish. Here occurs the fable " Dela raposa
7 del gallo 7 delos perros," replacing the Latin
" De Junone et Fenere et aliis feminis," which
has in its turn been placed at the end of the
Spanish edition, under the title : " Dela diosa
uenus 7 su gallina." It is no longer necessary,
therefore, to derive the latter from Phaedrus ; nor
did the Spanish omit No. xxm (De vulpe et gallo
et canibus) . The Burgos edition takes twenty of
the fables in its last book from Stainhowel, and
adds only six from other sources.1
The word "Ysopete" found in the explicit is
unusual in most Spanish collections. It may,
therefore, be of interest to note that the earliest use
of it known to the Romance Seminary of Johns
Hopkins University is in an inventory of 1460 :
" Otro librete que es quesopete en papel, etc." '
GUSTAV G. LAUBSCHEE.
ON THE DATE OF THE FIRST EDITION
OF MARLOWE'S EDWARD II.
The modern texts of Edward II are all based
on the edition published by William Jones in
1 The parallel fable " Del padre e fijo que yvan a vender
el asno," given by Morel-Fatio as No. xxivin the "Conde
Lucanor" is No. 11 in the Birch-Hirschfeld edition.
"Of. G. C. Keidel, ZRPh., xxv, 727.
1598, wit-i occasional reference to the relatively
valueless versions of 1612 and 1622. But it has
been generally known for more than a generation
that \ copy of an earlier edition of the play, dated
1594:':s preserved in the Landesbibliothek of Kas-
sel, Germany, and that this edition corrects the
latel '.ones in a considerable number of minor
detakd. During the last few years a second copy
of this 1594 edition has come to light in the
municipal library of Zurich.
It is not, however, with the edition of 1594 —
so far regarded as the editio princeps of the play —
that I wish to deal, but with the possibility that
there existed during the middle of the eighteenth
century, and may still exist in some private Eng-
lish library, a copy of a yet earlier edition, pub-
lished in 1593, the year of the author's death
and probably the very year in which the play
was completed. The only definite evidence on
the question is a copy of the play preserved in the
Dyce library, South Kensington Museum (shelf-
mark 6209). The printed portion of this book
is of no particular consequence ; it is certainly a
defective copy of the 1598 edition. The title-
page and first leaf of the text (signature A,),
containing lines 1-70 of the play, are, however,
missing and have been supplied in manuscript.
Of the date and author of the MS. insertions we
are informed by an entry on the back of the title :
' Mary Clarke her Book and Writting. October
the third One Thousand Seven hundred and Fifty
One.' The title-page itself is given in the MS.
as follows : ' THE / troublesome Raigne and /
lamentable death of Edward / the second King of
England ; / with the tragicall fall of proude /
Mortimer. / As it was sondry times publiquely
acted in the honorable Cittie of / London, By the
right honorable / the Earle of Pembroke his /
Seruants. / Written by Chri : Mar : Gent. / Im-
printed at London for William lones / dwelling
neere Holborne Conduit at / the Sigue of y" Gune.
1593.'
Now the most natural inference on seeing this
title-page is that the transcriber has made the
easy mistake of reading '1593' instead of '1598,'
and that the MS. pages were taken from a copy of
the same edition to which the printed leaves cer-
tainly belong. This, or something like it, must
be the general impression, for though the book is
catalogued under date of 1593, previous editors
72
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 3.
and bibliographers of Marlowe hav<--almost en-
tirely ignored its existence. I hav had the
opportunity, however, during the past '•'year of
comparing the title-page and the 70 sj& lines
with a photographic facsimile of the K&Vj3l 1594
edition and with copies of the three oth^r early
editions. From this examination it seei-js clear,
first of all, that the manuscript part of the Dyce
book could not possibly have been copied from
either of the 1598, 1612, or 1622 texts. These
last have a clause of additional advertisement on
the title-page of which the 1594 edition and the
transcript know nothing. It follows the words
'proude Mortimer,' and runs thus: 'And also
the life and death of Peirs Gaueston, the great
Earle of Cornewall, and mighty fauorite of king
Edward the second.' There is a difference, also,
in the way the next sentence of the title-page is
phrased. On the other hand, the texts of 1598-
1622 omit the heading which the 1594 edition
and the MS. insert at the top of the first page of
text. In the body of the play (11. 1-70) I have
found, disregarding mere variations of spelling
and accidental mistakes, that ed. 1594 and the
MS. differ from the later editions in the following
cases :
L. 28. horses 1594, MS. : horse 1508-1622.
L. 40. Porpintine (Porpentine) 1594, MS. :
Porcupine 1598-1622.
L. 60. an antick 1594, MS. : the antick 1598-
1622.
These differences, particularly those which consist
in the omission of a sentence in one place and the
insertion of one in another are hardly such as can
be explained by any theory of hasty or ignorant
transcription, and when we find the transcript
agreeing in all the cases indicated with the earlier
edition of 1594, we may be sure that it has no
connexion with any of the three later editions.
The resemblance to the text of 1594 is certainly
closer, but here, too, the divergences are suffi-
ciently great to make copying unlikely, even
when we allow for the maximum of carelessness
and stupidity on the part of the copyist. In the
seventy lines contained in the manuscript, and
in the accompanying stage directions, I have
counted fifteen variations from the edition of
1594. In six of these the MS. reading is inferior
and may be due to inaccurate transcription. The
cases are :
L. 6. these MS. : these these 1594.
L. 20. Its MS. : As 1594.
L. 21. bakt MS. : Rakt 1594.
L. 22. tantum MS. : Tanti 1594.
L. 41. eate MS. : dart 1594.
L. 59. gasing MS. : grazing 1594.
In six other cases of difference there is little to
choose between the two versions, viz. :
S. D. reading of MS. : reading on 1594.
L. 43. them MS. : these 1594.
L. 49. I MS. : We 1594.
L. 54. are MS. : is 1594.
L. 60. Goates MS. : Goate 1594.
L. 65. as hS. : which 1594.
Finally, in three cases the reading of the MS.
seems preferable :
L. 9. thine MS. : thy 1594. The only in-
stance where the MS. and the later
editions agree as against ed. 1594.
L. 31. dinner MS. : dinner time 1594.
L. 58. Syluan MS. : Siluian 1594.
If, moreover, the MS. were based on the edition of
1594, we should have very great difficulty in ex-
plaining how that date, clearly printed on the
title-page, could be misread or otherwise corrupted
into '1593.' So, too, it is hard to understand
any reason for which the poet's name, printed
' Chri. Marlow ' on the title-page of 1594 should
be contracted by an eighteenth century scribe
into ' Chri : Mar : ' , whereas the abbreviation of
the author's name on the title of the first edition
of one of his works is a very common Elizabethan
practice.
Apart from this special evidence, there is great
inherent probability that an edition of Edward II
was published in 1593. On July 6th of that year
William Jones — the same who is mentioned on all
the title-pages prior to 1612 — registered the play
at Stationers' Hall under the name of ' A booke
Intituled The troublesom Reign and Lamentable
Death of Edward the Second, king of England,
with the tragicall fall of proud Mortimer.' At
this date the year 1593, according to Eliza-
bethan reckoning, had nearly nine months to run,
and we know that the ceremony of registration
March, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
73
was normally followed by immediate publication.
Accidental causes, of course, might and sometimes
apparently did postpone such publication, but in the
present instance such a thing is most unlikely.
On July 6th, 1593, Marlowe had been just one
month in his grave, and contemporary allusions
show London to have been agog with stories of
his life, his opinions, and the manner of his death.
In such circumstances it would be surprising in
the highest degree for a publisher to withhold the
issue of the dead poet's masterpiece until nine
months or more after it had been officially
licensed.
It is, therefore, my belief that Mary Clarke
had before her on October 3rd, 1751 a copy of
a first edition of Edward II, otherwise unknown.
It would be interesting and important to ascer-
tain whether it has since disappeared beyond
recoveiy. So far my searches have been fruit-
less, but there appears still ground for hope that
inquiry among the obscurer private libraries of
England may lead to a very valuable literary and
bibliographical discovery.
C. F. TUCKEK BROOKE.
Cornell University.
A PARALLEL TO A UCASSIN ET
NICOLETTE vi, 26.
To the parallels to the interesting passage in
Aucassin et Nicolette (vi, 26, ed. Suchier), in which
Aucassin declares his preference of hell to heaven,
there should be added the following story about
Niccolo Machiavelli, quoted by Bayle (Dictio-
naire [sic] historique et critique, ed. Des Maizeaux,
Amsterdam, 1734, vol. iv, p. 14, n. L) from the
Jesuit Etienne Binet (Du Salut d' Origene, Paris,
1629, pp. 359-361) : " On arriue a ce detestable
poinct d'honneur, ou arriua Machiauel sur la fin
de sa vie : car il cut cette illusion peu deuant que
rendre son esprit. II vit vn tas de pauures gens,
comme coquins, deschirez, affamez, contrefaits,
fort mal en ordre, & en assez petit nombre, on
luy dit que c'estoit ceux de Paradis, desquels il
estoit escrit, Beati pauperes, quoniam ipsorum est
regnum ccelorum. Ceux-cy estans retirez, on fit
paroistre vn nombre innombrable de personnages
pleins de grauite & de majest^, on les voyoit
comme vn Senat, ou on traitoit d'affaires d'estat,
& fort serieuses, il entrevid Platon, Aristote,
Seneque, Plutarque, Tacite, & d'autres de cette
qualit6. II demanda qui estoient ces Messieurs-
la si venerables, on luy dit que c' estoient les dam-
nez, & que c' estoient des ames reprouuees du Ciel,
Sapientia Jmiua sceculi, inimica est Dei. Cela es-
tant passe, on luy demanda desquels il vouloit
estre. II respondit, qu'il aynioit beaucoup mieux
estre en enfer auec ces grands esprits, pour deuiser
auec eux des affaires d'Estat, que d' estre auec
cette vermine de ces belistres qu'on luy auoit fait
voir. Et a tant il mourut, & alia voir comme
vont les affaires d'Estat de 1'autre monde."
Another form of the story is mentioned by
Bayle as occurring in the Epistolue of Francis
and Jean Hotman. It is as follows : "Wolphius
nuper Augusts mortuus, in suis Commentariis in
T'uscul. quas anno superiore mihi donavit, Ma-
chiavellum scelerum, impietatum et flagitiorum
magistrum appellat, ac testatur ilium quodam
loco scripsisse, sibi multo optabilius esse post
mortem ad Inferos et diabolos detrudi, quam in
coslum ascendere. Nam hie nullos reperturum,
nisi mendiculos et misellos quosdam Monachos,
Heremitas, Apostolos ; illic victurum se cum
Cardinalibus, cum Papis, Regibus et Principi-
bus" [Letter of Franjois Hotman, December 28,
1580, in Franeisei et Joannis Hotomanorum . . .
Epistolce, Amstelsedami, 1700].
Villari, in discussing the story in his well-
known work, Niccolo Machiavelli e I suoi Tempi
(2d edition, vol. in, p. 368 ff., Milan, 1897),
eays that he has been unable to find the book
cited by Hotman as his authority, and does not
know whether it was ever published. This state-
ment is strange, inasmuch as the commentary,
which is by the celebrated German humanist
Hieronymus Wolf, is mentioned in so common a
reference-book as Pokel's Philologisches Schrift-
steller-Lexikon (Leipzig, 1882). The book seems
to be rare, however, as neither the British Mu-
seum, the Bodleian Library, nor the Cambridge
University Library possesses a copy of it, and
Johann Caspar Orelli states iu his edition of the
Tusculans (Oxford, 1834, p. 365) that he has
never seen it, and would " feel greatly obliged "
for the loan of it. Copies of it are to be found in
74
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 3.
the Library of All Souls College at Oxford, in the
Bibliotheque Nationals at Paris, and in the Royal
Public Library at Dresden (for the last see Ebert,
Allgemeines Bibliographisches Lexikon, Leipzig,
1821, No. 4505). The title-page reads : M. T.
C. Tusculanarum Qucestionum Aphorismi . . . cum
explicatione Hieronymi Wolfii . . . Basilece . . . per
Eusebium Episcopium, M. D. LXXX.
Villari concludes that the story of the dream,
although nowhere mentioned in Machiavelli's
writings, was suggested by various daring pas-
sages in the works of the author of the Principe,
and may even have been related in jest by him,
though not when he was lying at the point of
death. This view he thinks supported by Hot-
man's statement that Machiavelli had expressed
in his works a preference for the infernal regions.
The original text of Wolf, which I have consulted
at Oxford, indicates clearly, however, that Hot-
man was quoting from memory, and erred in say-
ing that the idea was to be found in Machiavelli's
writings. In an account of various ' ' Voces blas-
phemse," to illustrate the passage "Non enim
temere nee fortuito sati et creati sumus . . ." (i,
49), he says (vol. i, p. 594, under the marginal
heading " Machiauelli ccelum") : "Nee tamen
desunt belli (si Diis placet) et facet! homunculi :
qui Machiauellum, scelerum magistrum, et per-
niciosum principum assentatorem, secuti, se In-
feros coslis anteponere, ioco scilicet, dicant : quod
ccelum non nisi pauculos vetulos monachos, et
superstitiosas aniculas habeat : apud Inferos uero
maxima frequentia degant pontifices, reges, Cse-
sares, priucipes, et infiniti bellissimi homunculi, et
mulierculse elegantissimse. " The fact that the
same idea had been expressed by Teofilo Eolengo
in 1521 (see Suchier's note to the passage quoted)
makes it seem likely that Machiavelli's enemies,
perhaps shortly after his death in 1527, fathered
this ancient witticism upon him in order to
blacken his reputation. It thus appears probable
that "quel celebrate sogno," referred to by Bu-
sini in his letter to Varchi in 1549 (see Villari,
1. c., p. 368), was substantially the same as that
narrated by Binet a century after Machiavelli's
death.
For courteous assistance in connection with the
the preceding note I am indebted to Mr. Edgar
Goodman, of Baltimore, formerly of the Histor-
ical Seminary of the Johns Hopkins University,
to Mr. Falconer Madan, of the Bodleian Library,
Oxford, and to Mr. A. Whitaker, of All Souls
College Library, Oxford.
D. S. BLONDHEIM.
Paris.
A NOTE 'ON THE "SCHEIRER
RHYTHMUS."
Among the versions of the allegory of the Four
Daughters of Ood discussed by Miss Traver in her
excellent dissertation on this subject,1 the so-called
"Scheirer Rythmus," a thirteenth century Latin
poem edited from a codex in the Bavarian cloister
at Scheiren, by August Hartmann,2 occupies a
somewhat exceptional position. The use of the
popular Goliardic stanza and the introduction
into the allegory of a new motive, that of a dis-
pute between Faith and Reason, are found, so
far as I know, only here. It has apparently
escaped the notice of those who have had occasion
to mention the Rhythmus that the poem bears a
close relation to a Latin "debate" in the same
measure, the work, probably, of Philippe de
Greve, Chancellor of the University of Paris and
writer of theological works and verse at the begin-
ning of the thirteenth century. The poem is
entitled in the unique manuscript which preserves
it " Dyalogus fidei et rationis conpositus a Phyl-
ippo Cancellario Parisense . . ." ; it is edited with
other poetry of Philippe's by R. Peiper.3
In the "Scheirer Rhythmus" the contention
between the daughters, in which Justice and
Mercy (Ptete) alone take part, is followed by
an account of the marriage of the Virgin. While
the heavenly hosts are singing the nuptial hymn,
Reason appears and disturbs their harmony with
philosophic objections. She is represented by five
heretics, Arrius, Marcion, Plato, Nestor, and
Jovinianus, who set forth their arguments one
after another in a single stanza each. Reason
1 The Four Daughters of God (Bryn Mawr College Mono-
graphs), 1907.
rift xxm, 173-189.
'Archivfiir Litleralurgeschichle, VJi, 4093.
March, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
75
herself stands by to support them ; but Faith
puts scepticism to silence by rebuking Reason and
expounding the mysteries of the incarnation and
virgin birth. In the ' ' Dyalogus fidei et rationis ' '
this dispute is not an incident but the main theme.
The author has risen from his bed at daybreak
and is perplexing himself with philosophic ques-
tions when he overhears a contention between
Faith and Reason. The two debate in short,
alternate speeches ; their arguments are much the
same as those which appear in the Rhythmus, but
here Reason speaks for herself and the dispute is
much more extended. The two poems are defi-
nitely connected, however, by the fact that of the
fourteen stanzas which compose the reason and
faith debate in the Rhythmus, at least four are
found in almost identical form in the Dyalogus.
The following citations will illustrate the corres-
pondence between the two texts :
' R. " Quenam te presumptio facit disputare
Contra naturalia? nam vis deliare,
Dum vel partum virginis audes predicare,
Vel in tribus unicumdeum adorare." '
Dyalogus, stanza 5.
'Arrita. " Quas laudatis nuptiae quenam sunt ant quare ?
Contra naturalia vultis disputare
Presumentes virginis partum predicare
Vel in tribus unicum deum adorare." '
Rhythmus, 38.
The first stanza quoted is the beginning of Rea-
son's argument in the Dyalogus ; the second is
the first argument on the side of Reason in the
Rhythmus. Faith's opening stanza is identical
in both poems except that the Dyalogus has
' ' Fides ad hec retulit, ' ' and ' ' Procul a sacrario
nostro es remota"; where the Rhythmus has
"Fides ergo retulit," and "Procul a sacrario
nostro sis remota." Similarly stanzas 27 and 28
in the Dyalogus correspond to 48 and 49 of the
Rhythmus ; the last two lines of 25 are related to
the last two of 43, and the last two of 30 iden-
tical with those of 42.
That one of these poems is indebted to the other
is obvious. So far as our knowledge of the dates
of the two is concerned, either might be the
original. The Rhythmus was formerly ascribed
to Konrad, a monk of the cloister of Scheiren,
whom we know to have written the manuscript
containing it some time during the abbacy of
Heinrich (1226-59); but Hartmann, reasoning
from inaccuracies in the text is inclined to believe
that he was only the copyist. The Dyalogus must
have been written before 1233, the year, accord-
ing to a contemporary chronicle, of Philippe's
death.1 But if we have no external indication of
the relative date of the Dyalogus and the Rhyth-
mus, the poems themselves furnish clear evidence
that the author of the latter was the borrower.
The presence of the Reason and Faith dispute in
the Rhythmus is certainly strange. There was
nothing in the original allegory which would
easily have suggested it, and Hartmann' s ex-
planation of its significance — that it is intended
as a human parallel to the divine contest of Jus-
tice and Mercy — is hardly borne out by the poem
itself. In any case the introduction of this new
element is a striking innovation. As the subject
of an independent poem, on the other hand, the
dispute is natural enough. The Dyalogus belongs
to the familiar and well-defined literary type of
the conflictus or debate, a form which enjoyed a
great degree of popularity in the Latin literature
of the period in which the Dyalogus must have
been composed ; the poem bears a close resem-
blance in form to the dialogues printed by Wright
in The Latin Poems attributed to Walter Mapes.
The opposition of faith and reason must have been
familiar indeed to a theologian, and the idea of
expressing this contrast in a debate would easily
occur to Philippe, whom we know to have written
at least one other poem of the kind.5 It seems
more probable, therefore, that the Dyalogus was
written before the Rhylhmus and used by the
author of the latter, than that the Reason and
Faith incident was picked out of its setting by
Philippe and used as the subject of an inde-
pendent work.
This conclusion is established beyond a doubt
by a consideration of the parallel passages as
they appear in the two poems. In almost every
case there is some indication that the material has
been adjusted to a new setting in the Rhythmus.
In at least one instance the borrowed lines are
obviously out of place. The author of the Dya-
logus represents the contestants as already engaged
4Peiper, pp. 409-10.
5 Cf. Peiper, pp. 424 and 418.
76
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 3.
in their dispute when he begins to report it ; and
so Reason says to her opponent :
" Quenam te presumptio facit disputare
contra naturalia ? ' ' etc.
In the Rhythmus the corresponding remark with
which Arrius opens the discussion is wholly
inapropos : .
" Quas laudatis nuptiae quenam sunt aut quare ?
Contra oaturalia vultis disputare," etc.
They have indeed been praising the nuptials but
they have not been disputing. In adapting the
stanza to a new context the writer of the Rhyth-
mus was forced by the rime to keep this one
meaningless word. The evidence furnished by
the other passages is slighter but hardly less con-
clusive. The line "Fides ad hec (ergo) retulit
paulisper commota," for example, has a very
definite meaning in the Dyalogus, for the author
has previously described her calmness ; in the
Rhythmus it is not particularly significant. The
change to the imperative in the third line of the
same stanza interrupts the course of the thought.
The verb predicare ("assert," "affirm"), in the
first and second stanzas quoted above, is more
natural in the Dyalogus than in the Rhythmus,
for in the latter poem the event referred to has
not yet taken place, and we should naturally
expect predicere ("predict").
If, then, it is reasonably certain that the bor-
rowing is on the side of the author of the Rhyth-
mus, we may, I think, assume that the idea of
employing the reason-faith motive in the allegory
was first suggested to him by the Dyalogus. I
am prepared to go further and say that the form
of the "Scheirer Rhythmus" as a whole was
largely determined by Philippe de Greve's debate.
So far as I know, the Rhythmus is the only ver-
sion of the allegory written in this measure. It
is to be noted also that by using only Justice and
Mercy instead of all four of the Daughters of God
and by condensing the introductory narrative into
a single stanza, the author has brought the poem
nearer to a disputation than the versions of this
allegory usually are. Both the choice of measure
and this tendency to reduce the elaborate allegory
to a mere dispute might perhaps be attributed to
the influence of the debate in general, but, as we
have seen, the author of the Rhythmus had a par-
ticular debate very freshly in mind when he
composed his poem, and it is natural to think of
this as his chief model.
JAMES HOLLY HANFOKD.
Harvard University.
ONE OF THE SOURCES OF THE
QUEEN OF CORINTH.
That the Gesta Romanorum was known to the
Elizabethans is attested by the fact that there
are several allusions to it in the plays of the
period. It has not, however, been pointed out
that Fletcher, Massinger, and Field are indebted
to one of the tales for the denouement of the
Queen of Corinth. I have appended Wynkyn de
Worde's version of the tale (E. E. T. S.: Extra
Series 33, p. 440) and enough of Act v, sc. 4 of
the Queen of Corinth to reveal the indebtedness.
"In Rome dwelled somtyme a myghty Em-
perour and a wyse, named Edfenne / the whiche
ordeyned for lawe, y' who somever rauysshed a
mayde, sholde be at her wyll / whether she wolde
put hym to deth, or that she wolde have hym to
her husbande. It befelle after on a daye, that a
man rauyshed upon a nyght two maydens / the
first damoysell desyred that he sholde dye, & the
seconde desyred weddynge. The rauyssher was
taken, and ledde before the luge, that sholde
satysfye bothe these damoysels thrughe his wys-
dome and ryghtfulnesse. The fyrst mayde ever
desyred the dethe, accordynge to the law. And
than sayd the seconde, " And I desyre hym for to
be my husbande / for lyke wyse as thou haste the
lawe for the / in lyke wyse I have it for me. And
neuerthelesse my petycion is more and better than
yours, for it is more charytable / therfore me
thynketh in my reason, that the lustyce sholde
gyue sentence with me." Than ye lustyce un-
derstandynge the grete mercy of the seconde
mayden, aue lugement, that he sholde wedde
her ; and soo it was done."
' ' Queen. . . . Read the law.
Clerk (Reading). Lycurgus the nineteenth
against rapes : It is provided, and publicly
enacted and confirmed, That any man of what
degree soever, offering violence to the chastity of
a virgin shall, ipso facto, be liable to her accusa-
tion, and according to the said law be censured ;
ever provided, that it shall be in the choice of the
said virgin so abused, either to compel the offen-
March, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
77
der to marry her without a dower, if so she will
be satisfied, or demanding his head for the offence,
to have that accordingly performed.
Queen. You hear this : what do you de-
mand?
Merione. The benefit
The law allows me.
Beliza. For the injury
Done to mine honour, I require his
head.
Merione. I likewise have an eye upon mine
honour ;
But knowing that his death cannot
restore it,
I ask him for my husband.
Beliza. I was ravish' d
And will have justice.
Merione. I was ravish' d too ;
I kneel for mercy.
Beliza. I demand but what
The law allows me.
Merione. That which I desire
Is by the same law warranted."
The extract given above suffices to show the
indebtedness but it does not indicate the amplifi-
cations made by the Elizabethan adapters. The
contention of the two women is in the play
expanded considerably and a few modifications
are made which in some ways intensify the
dramatic effect. In the first place, the queen who
sits in judgment is made the mother of the
offender. Then an element of suspense is added
in that the royal culprit is condemned to death.
This sentence is, however, in turn revoked when
it is shown that the contention of the two ladies
was feigned, that only Merione has suffered viola-
tion, and that the bloody demand of Beliza was
actuated by the hope that the offender might thus
be brought to repent.
HERBERT F. SCHWARZ.
Columbia University.
ON THE TEXT OF THE PROSE POR-
TION OF THE 'PARIS PSALTER.'
Under the title here employed a Mr. J. H. G.
Grattan has contributed an article to the last num-
ber of The Modern Language Review (January,
1909). This new contributor has unfortunately
introduced himself to his colleagues as one who
by temperament is disposed to convert disappoint-
ment into grievance, and to betray personal annoy-
ance in connection with matters of impersonal
science. Such a disposition of mind is, however,
usually allowed to pass without severe censure.
Culpability sets in with the steps that are some-
times taken next in retaliation of the imagined
offence ; of this there cannot be the least doubt
when those steps are somewhat oblique.
The editors of the recent edition of The West-
Saxon Psalms * are glad to acknowledge indebted-
ness to Mr. Grattan for several corrections of their
text and for further suggestions that will be duly
considered. It is an advantage to have the bene-
fit of Mr. Grattan' s scrutiny of the MS., for even
the slightest gain in accuracy is desirable. Thus,
he reports the MS. reading ge, x, 1 (overlooked
by Thorpe, Tanger, and Bright), and mcegen,
xxxi, 3 (for mcegn of the printed texts ; also
overlooked by Tanger); and he properly calls
attention to the reading noticed by Tanger at XX,
4, and improperly comments thus : ' ' Th. by an
oversight has omitted f>e, and Br. again reprints
him faithfully." This exhausts Mr. Grattan' s
list of readings in which the new text misrepre-
sents the MS. It looks like an act of sympathy
for human frailty when Mr. Grattan himself
contributes an error. He reports that ' ' the ini-
tials are lacking in both cases "of ])y and pa at
xn, 5. My collocation marks with special dis-
tinctness a rubricated initial for the second word.
In the larger number of Mr. Grattan notes he
suggests emendations of the text. Several of these
will, I am sure, be accepted, and others deserve
careful consideration. He is, however, in error,
as I think, in accepting Thorpe's him at xxxiv,
13. I construe hi (referring to heora) as object
of sende : ' for the judge to whom (fie . . . to) I
offered (sende) them ( hi) would not receive them '
(heora, referring to gebedo).
As to xxin, 9, I should now retain the MS.
reading low ge, and attribute the variation from
1 The West-Saxon Psalms, being the Prose Portion, or the
'First Fifty,' of the so-called Paris Psalter. Edited from the
Manuscript, with an Introduction and an Appendix. [Ad-
vanced edition, without the Introduction.] By James
Wilson Bright and Robert Lee Bamsay. Boston and
London : D. C. Heath & Co., 1907.
78
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 3.
this construction in the preceding verse 7 to the
ambiguous case-ending of posies. It is also
plainly reasonable to retain gedrige of xxxix, 15,
as Thorpe suggested. In this instance Mr. Grat-
tan is unfair even to Thorpe. The evidence of
verse 21 in the same psalm is of course incon-
clusive, because of the capricious use and disuse of
the prefix ge. To cite one more instance of disa-
greement with Mr. Grattan, it must be admitted
that conservative editing favors the retention of
ludas at xxxv Arg., since this reading is sup-
ported by the second MS.
Mr. Grattan' s grievance has manifestly engen-
dered in him a determination to convey an un-
favorable impression of the book that appeared
when he himself had in preparation an edition of
these Psalms.2 He has therefore, it would seem,
purposely refrained from noticing the new features
of the book, and, what is seriously reprehensible,
has by wanton indirections and by unwarranted
expressions labored skilfully to convey the false
notion that the new edition of the text is unduly
dependent upon Thorpe's edition, and at a disad-
vantage in a comparison with Tanger's collation.
It is in protest against such petty maliciousness
that I have in this manner called attention to Mr.
Grattan' s contribution.
JAMES W. BRIGHT.
ON A PASSAGE OF FRIEDRICH
RUCKERT.
In a comparatively recent volume of selected
German poems, issued by a well-known American
publishing house, I came across a footnote the
other day which, I believe, calls for correction.
At any rate, I should like to put myself on record
as dissenting from the position taken by the editor.
The editor's note in question has reference to an
expression inRiickert'spoem entitled "Wunsch."
The poem being short, it may as well be given
"Mr. Grattan may be told that I collated the Paris
MS. in July of 1905, and that my text was ready for the
printer at the close of the summer of 1906. Dr. Earn-
say also studied the Paris MS. in the summer of 1905, and
worked with me in libraries of England, collecting mate-
rial for the study of problems relating to these Psalms.
here in full
discussion.
this will conduce to clearness hi our
WUNSCH.
Etwas wiinschen und verlangen,
Etwas hoffen muss das Herz,
Etwas zu verlieren bangen
Und um etwas fiihlen Schmerz.
Deine Lust und deine Wonne
Musst du an was immer sehn,
Soil vergeblich Mond und Sonne
Nicht an dir voriibergehn.
Gleich von unbegrenztem Sehnen
Wie entfernt von triiger Euh,
Miisse sich mein Leben dehuen
Wie ein Strom dem Meere zu.
I have italicized the two words which constitute
the subject of my contention. The editor, refer-
ring to this passage, adds the surprising footnote :
was = etwas. In a similar collection of German
poems prepared in England, I find that the editor
fails to comment on the passage at all ; from this
I infer that he too assigns to was the meaning of
etwas. Now we all know, of course, that very
frequently the German was has the force of etwas,
but the question arises : does it hold true in this
case? I shall say at once that the combination
was immer, in the editor's acceptation, is to my
mind einfach kein Deutsch. In accordance with
ordinary German usage the order would have to
be immer [an] was, provided that were the poet's
meaning. Moreover, the metrical demands would
by no means forbid the one order any more than
the other, since the line
Musst du immer an was sehn
would surely be quite as smooth as the poet's
order
Musst du an was immer sehn,
The common expression immer was offers no
difficulties, so far as I can see, being, of course,
a colloquial form for immer eiwas. But is Ru'ck-
ert's order was immer identical in meaning with
this immer was or the equivalent immer etwas, as,
indeed, the editor seems to contend ? In my judg-
ment the meaning of the poet's form was immer
may very well be rendered by the common Eng-
lish expression no matter tvhat, and has absolutely
nothing whatever to do with always something
(immer [ef]was~), as the editor would have us
March, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
79
believe. The poet's expression is simply equiva-
lent to was es immer sei. This use of immer, with
the generalizing force that we are defending in this
connection, is, of course, very well known in Ger-
man, and, I daresay, is not new to the editor.
Cf. Goethe (Hermann und Dorothea~) :
Ich tadle nicht gerne, was immer dem Menschen
Fur unschadliche Triebe die gute Mutter Natur gab.
Frequently, too, we add the word auch, and in
this connection use the verb mijyen, as in the
expression : was es auch immer sein mag. Cf.
Muret-Sanders, Encyclopadisches Worterbuch, Ber-
lin, under the entry immer.
On the same point I quote from Paul's Deut-
sches Worterbuch, Halle a. S., 1897 : "Die an-
dere [Verwendungsweise] , noch jetzt gewohnlich,
in verallgemeinernden Relativsatzen, zum schar-
feren Ausdruck der Verallgemeinerung, hiiufig
mit auch verbunden : wer es auch immer sein
mag ; entsprechend in Siitzen mit wo, wann, wie,
so u. s. w."
I close with a quotation from Grimm's Deut-
eches Worterbuch : ' ' Frag- uud audere Pronomina
werden durch immer zu unbestimmten : wer im-
mer, was immer, wo immer ; was du immer horst,
schweige ; doch dem sei, wie ihm immer sei.
LESSING." From the poet Logau the Grimms
also cite the following :
Wer Tugend hat und Kunst, wird immer nie vertrieben,
1st, wo er immer ist, als wie zu Hause blieben.
C. H. IBERSHOFF.
Cornell University.
A MODERN VERSION OF CUPID AND
PSYCHE.
Certain parallels to Apuleius' story at once
occur to the mind, as the account of Zeus and
Semele, and our own Beauty and the Beast. Nor
is the ancient Hindoo version unfamiliar, as told
in R, V.i x, 95, and in the Brahmana of the
Yajur Veda, as also in longer and more artistic
shape in Kalidasa's play Vikramorvasl. The story
appears again in modern times in India, with a
woodcutter's daughter as heroine,1 and there are
1 Brockhaus, Die Mdrchensammlung des Somadeva BhaUa
aus Kaichmir, n, 191.
in fact some thirty parallels in Indo-European lit-
erature, of which a comprehensive list is given in
Friedliinder.2
The general outline to which the tales must
conform in order to admit of their being included
in this group is, as given by the Brothers Grimm,
substantially as follows : A good and innocent,
and usually youngest, daughter is promised by
her father to a monster, under pressure of some
sort ; or it may be that the girl voluntarily sacri-
fices herself. She bears her fate patiently at first,
then yields to outside influences, and must pay
a bitter penalty for the resulting disobedience.
Finally, because of the love which she comes to
feel for the monster, his hideous form disappears,
leaving him disclosed as a youth of great beauty
and charm.
In many examples of the fairy-tale, the woman's
wrongdoing consists in her yielding to an impulse
of curiosity concerning something forbidden. She
is usually punished by being separated from her
lover, and must work out her atonement alone.
The story of Lohengrin and Elsa, though not
mentioned by Kuhn, at once occurs as an illus-
tration of this idea. In the classical Sanskrit
version it is the woman who must leave her hus-
band, instead of his going from her, the fault,
however, being still that of the woman, who in
this case is a superhuman being, an apsaras. In
Kalidasa's play not curiosity, but jealousy, is the
cause of the enforced separation. In her anger
Urvasi had inadvertently entered the forest sacred
to the god of war, and the inevitable consequence
of such an act on the part of a woman was that
she became invisible. There are many figurative
and symbolic explanations of the myth.3 In any
case, the fault is the woman's, and when we recall
that in some versions the monster appears as a
serpent, and that Sappho called love yXvKvn-inpov
a.fna.xavov tpirtrav, it is amusing to note the simi-
larity to the Hebrew tale of the woman tempted
by the serpent and in turn causing the man to sin.
An echo of this widespread myth may be found
in Ibsen's DolFs House. This play is in itself no
enigma, and its simple lesson that woman has a
right to be considered as an independent being, is
plain. It is possible, however, to go farther, and
2 Darstdlungen aits der Sittengesckichten Roms, I, 553-5.
3Cf. Kuhn, Herabkunft des Feuers, 81, Friedlander,
t&ia., 535ff., etc.
80
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 3.
regard Helraer and Nora as the modern Cupid
and Psyche. Helmer is the monster, in that his
really upright and honorable character is warped
and hidden by the ugly veneer of an attitude all
too frequent, and outlined thus by Macfall :
" Nora must be his toy, his utter slave ; pander
to all his whims ; live only for him ; think only
what he thinks ; believe only what he believes."
Nora, the impersonation of Psyche, lives patiently
and uncomplainingly in subjection to this idea,
until the disclosure of her forgery arouses discord.
As the flash of lightning showed to UrvasI Puru-
ravas, bare of his royal robes, in the Brahmana
version, so the attitude of Helmer toward his wife's
blind attempt to aid him discloses him to her un-
mistakably. Nora realizes at once that separation
is necessary and inevitable, and prepares for her
departure unmoved by the anger of Helmer.
Here Ibsen pauses, and the critics ask impa-
tiently, "Does Nora return?" It maybe that
the answer is given by the Cupid and Psyche myth.
After the tests are successfully passed, and the
tasks accomplished, the hero and heroine grow to
be finally worthy of each other, and are at last
reunited.
IVY KELLEKMAN.
Chicago.
GOETHE'S QUOTATION FROM HUTTEN
IN DICHTUNG UND WAHRHEIT. I.
The extract from Ulrich von Hutten's famous
letter to Pirkheimer which Goethe inserted toward
the end of the seventeenth book of Diehtung und
Wahrheit deserves more attention than has hith-
erto been accorded it. The extract should be
read in its entirety to get the full impression of
its tone, but, as it would take too much space to
print the whole of it, only enough will be cited
here to indicate the character of the part to be
discussed.
" . . . es besitzt mich ein heftiger Durst nach
dem Ruhm, dass ich so viel als moglich geadelt
zu sein wiinschte. Es wiirde schlecht mit mir
stehen, teurer Billibald, wenn ich mich schon
jetzt fur einen Edelmann hielte, ob ich gleich in
diesem Rang, dieser Familie, von solchen Eltern
geboren worden, wenn ich mich nicht durch
eigenes Bestreben geadelt hatte. Ein so grosses
Werk hab' ich im Sinn ! ich denke hoher ! nicht
etwa dass ich mich in einen vornehmeren, glan-
zendern Stand versetzt sehen mochte, sonderu
anderwiirts mocht' ich eine Quelle suchen, aus
der ich einen besondern Adel schopfte und nicht
unter die wahnhaften Edelleute gezahlt wiirde,
zufrieden mit dem, was ich von meinen Voreltern
empfangen. . . . Daher ich denn mit meinen Stu-
dien und Bemiihungen mich dahin wende und
bestrebe, entgegengesetzt in Meinung denenjeni-
gen, die alles das, was ist, fur genug achten ;
denn mir ist nichts dergleichen genug . . . und
hier bin ich mit den Mannern meines Standes
keineswegs iibereindenkend, welche Personen
eines niedrigen Ursprungs, die sich durch Tiich-
tigkeit hervorgetan haben, zu schimpfen pflegen,
. . . Denn was, bei Gott ! heisst es, den beneiden,
der das besitzt, was wir vernachlassigten ? . . .
Ganz rechtmassig hat das Erbteil des Adels, das
wir verschmiihten, ein jeder Gewandter, Fleis-
siger, in Besitz nehmen und durch Tiitigkeit be-
nutzen konnen. . . . Mag doch jedem Stand seine
eigene Ehre bleiben, ihm eine eigene Zierde
gewiihrt sein ! Jene Ahnenbilder will ich nicht
verachten, so wenig als die wohl ausgestatteten
Stammbiiume ; aber was auch deren Wert sei, ist
nicht unser eigen, wenn wir es nicht durch Ver-
dienste erst eigen machen. . . . Vergebens wird
ein fetter und beleibter jener Hausvater die Stand-
bilder seiner Vorfahren dir aufzeigen, indess er
selbst untatig eher einem Klotz ahnlich, als dass
er jenen, die ihm mit Tiichtigkeit voranleuchte-
ten, zu vergleichen ware." *
Before offering any suggestions as to the sig-
nificance of this letter to Goethe, and its possible
reflection in his writings, the field must first be
cleared of certain errors that have found accept-
ance with the commentators on D. u. W. For
example, it is the accepted opinion that Goethe
did not make his own translation from the Latin
original, though his failure to name the translator
of the passage might lead us to believe he did. It
is asserted that he used Wagner's translation, but
changed the phraseology rather freely. He is
even said to have used a copy of Wagner which
he borrowed from the Weimar Library. How-
ever, he is neither praised nor blamed for the
appropriation.
The following notes concern us here :
Loeper, in the Hempel edition of Goethe, xxui,
169, says: " Im Anschlusse an seine Beschafti-
lWerke (Weimar ed.), xxix, 74 S.
March, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
81
gung mit der bezeiclmeten Periode teilt der Ver-
fasser hier einen Auszug aus dem urspriinglich
lateinisch abgefassten und gedruckten Briefe Hut-
tens an seinen Niirnberger Freund Pirkheimer
vom 25. October 1518 nach einer i. J. 1801 er-
schienenen Ubersetzung mit." In his note on
the revision of the text (p. 122), speaking of the
spelling of the name Pirkheimer, he says that
Wagner spells it Pirkheimer "in Ulriclis von
Huiten Filnf Reden gegen Herzog Ulrieh von
Witrtemberg nebat seinem Briefe 'an Pirkheimer
1801, vvelche Ubersetzung Goethe ' anmutig be-
niitzt hat,' "
Diintzer's Erlauterungen (p. 281) has this
statement : ' ' Goethe benutzte neben der Urschrift
die von der Bibliothek geliehene Ubersetzung
Wagners." His note in the DNL. edition of
D. u. W. (xx, 73) runs: " Auf der Weimar-
ischen Bibliothek fand er Wagners 1801 erschie-
nene Ubersetzung von Hutlens Funf Reden,
denen der Brief an Pirkheimer beigegeben war."
In the Weimar edition of D. u. W. (xxix,
223) Baechtold puts it : " Goethe hat im fol-
genden die deutsche Ubersetzung von G. A. Wag-
ner (1801) benutzt, dieselbe jedoch frei umge-
schrieben."
R. M. Meyer's note in the Jubilee edition
(xxv, 294) reads : "Der hier im Auszug mit-
geteilte Brief stammt vom 25. Okt. 1518 ; Goethe
benutzte Wagners 1801 erschienene Ubersetzung
des lateinischen Originals."
In the edition of the Bibliographic Institute
(xin, 441) Heinemann says: "Am 10. Aug.
1824 u. 22. Dez. 1830 hat Goethe Huttens Brief
aus der Weimarischen Bibliothek entliehen. Er
hat die deutsche Ubersetzung von Wagner (1801)
frei benutzt."
Now all of these assertions with regard to
Goethe's use of Wagner's translation are abso-
lutely without foundation. The erroneous opinion
that he used Wagner started with Loeper, and is
fully accounted for by the latter' s misunderstand-
ing of the passage in Booking, UiricJis von Huiten
Schriften (1859, i, 33*), to which he refers as the
authority for his statement. His reference is to
that portion of Booking in which is given a bib-
liography of the letter to Pirkheimer. Booking
numbers the various titles and gives as No. 6
Hunch's edition of Hutten. Number 6a is Wag-
ner's translation. Number 6b reads : "Die Stelle
§ 73. med. bis § 82. a. A. hat Goethe in ' Wahr-
heit und Dichtung ' 17. Buch a. E. anmutig
benutzt." One's first impression on reading 6b
is that Booking here refers to sections in Wagner.
If Loeper had sought to verify the reference he
would have found that Wagner's translation is
not divided into numbered sections, and that
would have led him to question his first impres-
sion. Further investigation would have made it
clear to him that Booking means his own critical
text (further over in the book), which is divided
into numbered sections for convenient reference.
Booking merely says, then : The passage from the
middle of § 73 to and including the beginning of
§ 82, according to the numbering of my text,
"hat Goethe . . . anmutig benutzt." No im-
plication that Goethe used Wagner's translation.
If Booking had been more consistent and had
called his reference to Munch No. 6, that to
Wagner No. 7, and that to Goethe No. 8, there
would have been no excuse for Loeper' s quoting
"hat anmutig benutzt," as referring to Wagner.
All the other commentators have very natur-
ally looked upon Loeper' s statement, seemingly
supported by the authority of Booking, as correct,
and thus his error has come to be generally ac-
cepted as the truth. Duntzer, not to be outdone
by a predecessor, added the other detail, that
Goethe used a copy of Wagner which he borrowed
from the Weimar Library. That clinched the
error ; for who would question such a statement ?
When Baechtold wrote his notes he had before
him not only Loeper and Duntzer, but also a copy
of Wagner, for he points out a few verbal differ-
ences between Goethe and Wagner. He evi-
dently did not question the tradition, though he
felt called upon to add : "dieselbe jedoch frei
umgeschrieben." Meyer's note gives as much of
the tradition as he considered necessary. Heine-
mann gives evidence of having read Carl Alt's
Siudien zur Entstehungsgeschichte von Goethes D.
u. W. (1898), where he may have found the
dates which he includes in his notes, though he
may have secured them from some other quarter.
It was really Alt's duty, considering the nature
of his investigations, to verify or contradict Diint-
zer's assertion that Goethe borrowed Wagner from
the Weimar Library, just as it was his duty to
82
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, .Wo. 3.
prove or disprove the earlier statement of Loeper
that Goethe used Wagner's translation. His fail-
ure to make any mention at all of Wagner should
have been taken by Heinemann as an indication
that Goethe might not have used Wagner.
Let us now ' investigate the evidence as to
whether or not Goethe borrowed Wagner from
the Weimar Library.
It is not an arduous task to find out what books
he had out of the Library on any particular date.
He was given a number of consecutive pages in
each new loan book, and the first entries in each
were those carried over of all the books and other
articles he had not yet returned from former years.
In his diary, under the date of Aug. 10, 1824,
we read : ' ' Verschiedene neue Biicher von der
Bibliothek." In the Library's loan book for
1824 the only work of Hutten's charged to Goethe
is, on the 10th of August : Equitis Ulriehi de Hut-
ten ad Pirkheimer Epist. ("1st fur Se. Excellenz
geholt worden " ). The diary goes on to say that
that day and the following day Goethe read Hut-
ten's epistle to Pirkheimer. Feb. 25, 1825, his
diary again indicates his study of Hutten. March
24th he returned the book to the Library.
In Dec., 1830, we find the following entries in
the Tagebucher: 21st — "Mundum des 4. Bandes
Aw meinem Leben." (The seventeenth book is
in the fourth volume.) 22d. — "Las die Epistel
Ulrichs von Hutten bis zur Half te. " 23. — " Ge-
dachte Epistel durchgelesen. " 24th. — "Ueber-
setzung aus Huttens Epistel an Pirkheimer."
25th. — " Supplirte dasgestern Zuriickgelassene in
Huttens Brief an Pirkheimer."
So he made the translation for D. u. W. on the
24th and 25th, and Baechtold's assertion that the
end of book seventeen was written in the summer
of 1824 (1. c., p. 195) needs revision, as Alt also
surmises (p. 74).J
Now the only edition of Hutten's works charged
to Goethe at the Library in 1830 is the following,
on the 22d of December (the day on which he
began to prepare himself for the translation) : v.
Huttens Briefe, Latein, 2 Bde. An examination
of the works of Hutten in the Library at that time
revealed the fact that "Latein" can be inter-
*An entry in Goethe's diary on Sept. 16, 1831, may
mean that on that date he discussed his translation with
Ilieiner.
preted only as meaning Burckhard's edition of
1717, which is the same that Goethe had bor-
rowed and read in 1824 and 1825. 3 I have no
explanation to offer for Duntzer's erroneous asser-
tion. Goethe returned the books to the Library
June 21, 1831.
The loan books of the University of Jena Li-
brary have no record of Goethe' shaving borrowed
Wagner there, and Dr. Schuddekopf, who is pub-
lishing a catalogue of the books in Goethe's library,
assures me that the library contained no copy of
Wagner at the time of the poet' s death. I find no
reference to Wagner in the Briefe thus far pub-
lished or in press, and none in Biedermann's Ge-
sprache. Unfortunately we have still to look for-
ward to an index to the Tagebucher, There is,
therefore, no external evidence that Goethe ever
saw a copy of Wagner, unless it be found in some
out-of-the-way place in the Tagebucher or in some
of the unpublished volumes of the Brieje. That
these will furnish no such evidence seems practi-
cally certain from the internal evidence that Goethe
did not use Wagner's translation.
The extracts of Wagner's rendering correspond-
ing to those above quoted from D. u. W. read :
"Dann habe ich einen brenneuden Durst nach
Ruhm, ich mochte so edel werden als moglich.
Nicht ehrlich will ich sein, wenn ich mich fur
einen edlen Mann halte, weil ich ein Edelmann
aus dieser Familie, von diesen Eltern geboren bin,
und nicht durch mich es geworden bin. O ich
habe etwas weit grosseres vor. Ich denke weiter
hinauf; nicht in eine angesehnere Familie zu
kommen, sondern anders wo den Quell des Adels
aufzusuchen, aus dem ich zur Gniige schopfen
kann, damit ich nicht bios zu dem eingebildeten
Adel gehore, oder mir mit dem gnu'gen lasse, was
mir meine Ahnen hinterlassen haben. . . . Und
darauf wende ich alien Fleiss, alle Miihe, und bin
freilich darin verschiedncr Meinung von andern,
die mit dem vorlieb nehmen, was sie finden. Ich
kann das durchaus nicht. . . . Ich denke hier-
iiber nicht wie die meisten meines Standes, die
jeden von niedrer Herkuuft, der sich durch Ver-
dienste gehoben hat, verachten. . . . Wie toricht
ist es aber eineu um das zu beneiden, was man
selbst vernachliissigte ! . , . Es geschieht uns ganz
'This edition is recommended in the Merkur, p. 17.
March, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
recht, dass, was wir eigentlich nicht verscherzeu
sollten, jeder Unverdrossne ergreift und f'iir sich
verwendet. . . . Zwar aucli cine Geburt aus edlem
Stamme hat ikr Riihmliches uud Ehrenvolles, uud
man darf die Ahnen nicht so ganz verachten, diese
Stammtafeln ohne weitere eigne Verdienste : nur -
unser eigen ist das nicht, was wir von dieser erhal-
ten, wenn wir es uns nicht durch eignes Verdienst
er \verben. . . . Umsonst zeigt uns ein feister, ge-
masteter Hausvater die Standbilder seiner Vor-
fahren, wenu er indessen triige die Hande in den
Schoos legt, und eher mit einem Klotz, als mit
seinen riihrnlichen Vorgiingern zu vergleichen
ware." *
A comparison of this version with Goethe's re-
veals difference rather than similarity wherever
there is a possibility for a difference, and if Loeper
had not misconstrued Booking nobody would ever
have thought of suggesting that Goethe used Wag-
ner. Let us take three short passages which show
clearly that Goethe made his own translation from
the Latin.
(1) Burckhard : " me tenet non minima gloriae
sitis."
Wagner : "Dann habe ich einen brennenden
Durst nach Ruhm."
Goethe : " es besitzt mich eiu heftiger Durst
nach dem Ruhm."
Diintzer remarks that "es besitzt mich ein
Durst" is not German, and his view will hardly
be disputed.
(2) Burckhard : "At quae per Christum invi-
dia est, haec habere aliquem, no» quae neglexi-
mus?"
Wagner : ' ' Wie toricht ist es aber einen urn das
zu beneiden, was man selbst vernachliissigte ! ' '
Goethe : ' ' Denn was, bei Gott ! heisst es, den
beneiden, der das besitzt, was wir vernachlassig-
ten?"
(3) Burckhard : " Quare frustra pinguem ali-
quem et crassum ex illis patremfamilias, Maiorum
tibi suorum statuas ostentantem, videas, quum
ipse desideat interim ; magis trunco similis, quam,
ut cum illorum, qui praeluxerunt virtute, confe-
rendus veniat."
Wagner : ' ' Umsonst zeigt uns ein feister ge-
masteter Hausvater die Standbilder seiner Vor-
* Wagner, Ulrichs von Huttenfunf Reden, etc., 432 2.
fahren, wenn er indessen triige die Hande in den
Schoos legt, und eher mit einem Klotz, als mit
seineu ruhmlichen Vorgangern zu vergleichen
ware. ' '
Goethe : ' ' Vergebens wird ein fetter und be-
leibter jener Hausvater die Standbilder seiner
Vorfahren dir aufzeigen, indess er selbst untatig
eher einem Klotz iihnlich, als dass er jenen, die
ihm mit Tiichtigkeit voranleuchteten, zu verglei-
chen ware. "
If Goethe consulted Wagner at all it was to
avoid his rendering, even where it was better
German than his own.
W. A. COOPEK.
Stanford University.
OLD SPANISH LANGUAGE.
R. MENENDEZ PIDAL, Cantar de Mio Cid :
Texto, Gramatica y Vocabularw. Madrid :
Bailly-Bailliere 6 Hijos, 1908. I. 8°, ix +
420 pp.
After a delay of more than a decade, during
which it has been recast again and again to
accord with the results of the researches made by
this or that scholar, Senor Mene'ndez Pidal's crit-
ical and grammatical study of the Old Spanish
Cantar de Mio Cid, familiarly known as the
Poema del Cid, has now appeared. With good
reason did it receive in 1895 the prize of the Real
Academia Espanola, of which its author has since
become one of the most brilliant members. In its
revised form the book deserves a hearty welcome.
For such sanity and thoroughness of scholarship
as it exhibits no praise can be excessive. Hardly
any important detail seems to have escaped the
notice of the indefatigable Professor of the Uni-
versity of Madrid, who, with this new work, adds
one more to the list of his justly lauded publica-
tions, among which there stand forth his study of
the Legend of the Infantes of Lara, his Old Span-
ish Grammar, and his editions of the text of the
Cid and of the first General Chronicle.
Naturally, Meneudez Pidal's own edition of the
Cantar de Mio Cid, as the preliminary to the
present volume, furnishes the basis for all his
84
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 3.
investigations, in the course of which he takes
cognizance of the various corrections and modi-
fications introduced by contemporaneous and later
hands into the script of Per Abbat. More than
this, he seeks to go back of Per Abbat' s four-
teenth century forms and in certain cases arrive
at a knowledge of the twelfth century forms used
by the poet. Thus it is that he boldly rejects the
diphthong ue, which appears strangely in 6 asso-
nances, and proposes to substitute therefor an
earlier stage of u6, as something which was closer
to the original Latin accented 6 (fdrtem>fuorte
>/werte) and was still current in the twelfth cen-
tury, and thus also he admits for the language of
the poet an intervocalic spirant d (S, with a value
like that of the Old French intervocalic spirant d
and harking back to Latin intervocalic d) which
he finds generally ignored in Per Abbat' s four-
teenth century notation.
The Vocabulary announced by the title is to
appear later and will doubtless be etymological
in its nature. The study before us is in two
parts, of which the first, covering 136 pages, is
devoted to a criticism of the text, while the
second, extending over 284 pages, discusses
minutely matters of phonology, morphology and
syntax.
The First Part opens with an account of the
fortunes of the unique manuscript of the Cantar,
as traceable since Ulibarri had it in hand and
copied it in the sixteenth century, and then pro-
ceeds to discuss its date, its present aspect and its
probable affiliations. No new fact of striking
importance is brought forward here, but some
interesting views are expressed. The manuscript
is certainly of the fourteenth century and in the
sixteenth it suffered greatly from the reagents
that were applied to it. The date in the explicit
of Per Abbat, already made clear in Menendez
Pidal's edition of the poem, is to be interpreted
as 1307, and the manuscript thus dated "derives,
through an uninterrupted series of copies, from
the original written about the year 1140 " (page
33). But this series Mene'ndez Pidal deems a
brief one : the retention by Per Abbat of many
archaisms of language inclines him to believe that
only two copies intervened between the original
and the extant fourteenth century document. On
this supposition, the archaeological value of this
latter is very great and to his mind is all the
greater because in none of the copies " was there
manifested the slightest attempt at a poetical re-
casting" (page 33) of the work. Perhaps this
is going too far, but at any rate Mene'ndez Pidal
is consistent in his attitude. He does not any-
where admit any theory of a recasting, and hence
his reactionary views as to the versification of the
poem. Quite contrary to his belief is the idea
not yet wholly invalidated by him, that a redactor
did try his hand on the poem, and with disastrous
effect, seeking to convert its original heroic verses
of octosyllabic hemistichs (8 + 8) into the alex-
andrines current in the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries, succeeding upon occasion, but again
failing to disturb the primitive form or mangling
it and leaving only metrical debris behind him.
Cornu's theory of oral transmission is disproved,
at least for Per Abbat' s copy, as Menendez Pidal
rightly points out, by the existence in it of errata
which cannot be due to poor hearing on the part
of the scribe but resulted rather from a wrong in-
terpretation by him of contractions in a manu-
script which he had before him ; thus it is that
he rendered atleza by atineza instead of Atienza
and Dela by Deyna instead of Denia. It is fur-
ther disproved by the lacunse and dislocations in
the text and by poor rhymes, all explicable only
on the basis of intervening written copies. On the
whole this is good doctrine.
For fixing the date of the composition of the
poem at about 1140, Menendez Pidal thinks that
we possess sufficient evidence in the reference
which it makes to the " good Emperor, ' ' in the
allusions contained in the Poema de Almeria, and
in the general linguistic conditions of the Cantar
itself. He is probably correct in asserting that
already in 1140 it could have had the prayer of
Jirnena with its mention of the names of the
Magi, for Hartmann's contention, apropos of the
Auto de los Reyes Magos, that these names were
not generally diffused in the west until near the
end of the twelfth century can hardly be main-
tained. On grounds furnished by the names it is
not necessary, then, to regard the prayer as an
interpolation.
The larger proportion of the pages in the First
Part is given up to a consideration of matters of
much importance in connection with 'the emenda-
March, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
85
tory processes applicable to the text. The home
of the poet, his ideas of metre and assonance, and
the relation of the poem to the chronicles which
tell the story of the Cid are subjects discussed here
very fully and clearly, and even though, in so far
as the metre and features of the assonance are con-
cerned, Mcnendez Pidal's arguments will hardly
carry conviction to all, the thoroughness and the
lucidity of his method must be admired. Certain
of the matters treated in this part of the book had
already been considered by A. Coester in his dis-
sertation Compression in the Poema del Cid (lievue
Hispanique, vol. xv), but this was not accessible
to Meudndez Pidal when he was preparing his
pages for the press. In some particulars, as, for
example, in limiting the possibilities of assonance
as practised by the poet, they agree ; with regard
to a subject of undeniable importance they appear
to differ, for while Coester considers the extant
Cantar as representing a compression of earlier
poetic material, Men6ndez Pidal seems to be com-
mitted to the opinion that that Cantar is substan-
tially the original epic on the Cid. However, in
the forthcoming volume of his work, the latter will
take up the theory put forth by Coester.
It is by means of a geographical study made
possible by the various itineraries described in the
poem that Meudndez Pidal endeavors to fix the
precise region to which the poet belonged and to
eliminate all theories as to Asturian or other dia-
lect origin. Beer's opinion that the author of the
extant form of the poem wrote in the monastery
of San Pedro de Cardena obtains no credence
from him, for he finds that the author, or juglar,
has relatively little direct acquaintance with that
monastery or its history during the time of the
Cid. On the contrary, the author, or juglar, is
acquainted at first hand only with the region along
the Duero, between San Esteban and Navapalos,
and "no prueba conocer al pormenor sino la
media Jornada de camino que hay de Medina a
Luzon" (p. 68). Moreover, San Esteban and
Medinaceli are the centre of the chief action of the
poem. This matter of localization had already
been worked out in part by Fitzmaurice-Kelly in
his History of Spanish Literature, but Mendndez
Pidal's fuller statement of the situation may be
quoted here :
"We see clearly," he says (pp. 71-2), "that
the juglar divides his affections and his recollec-
tions between Mediuaceli and San Esteban de
Gormaz, two districts rather close together, and
the only ones which he describes to us with
topographical detail. The local tradition of San
Enteban gave him the fundamental episode of the
Cantar. The chief theme of which the juglar was
thinking constantly while writing his work was,
as Wolf observed, the marriage of the daughters of
the Cid (v. 282, 825, 1373-77, 1385-92, 1650,
1768, 1879, 2275, 2496), the affront put upon
them and the vengeance therefor (3715-22); all
interest is concentrated on the event which takes
place in the oak-grove of Corpes, near San Este-
ban, an event of merely local fame, without real
significance in the life of the Cid. . . . On the
other hand, the great deeds of the Campeador ap-
pear to be forgotten or elicit from the poet only a
very secondary attention. Of the chief feat of
arms of the Cid, the conquest of Valencia, the
juglar gives proof of but little knowledge ; he
even thinks that the taking of Murviedro pre-
ceded that of Valencia. . . . Then, too, upon the
narrative of the taking and abandoning of two
towns such as Caste j on and Alcocer, which, be-
cause of their insignificance, do not figure at all
in the history of the Cid, there are expended 450
verses, simply because these two points are found
within the district known to the poet, being situated
on the one side and the other of Medinaceli. Thus,
the Cantar de Mio Cid has a markedly local char-
acter. . . , Medina figures in the Gest of the Cid
solely because of the poet's particular affection for
it ; San Esteban does so of its own right. This
allows us to suppose that the juglar was of the
region of Medina, perhaps of the so renowned
Valle de Arbujuelo. ... Be this as it may, the
Cautar was written in the present province of
Soria, in the extreme south-east of what is now
called Castile."
As this territory was under Aragonese domina-
tion for part of the twelfth century, the question
may suggest itself, as to whether the language of
the poem shows any Aragonisms. Menendez Pidal
finds no certain indications of any, being reluctant
to interpret as Aragonese the sporadic forms
rreyal, empleye, firgades, etc. As to rreyal we may
say that it probably shows the influence of rey ;
regalem should have given regal, but instead there
was produced through analogy reyal, whence, with
the usual absorption of medial y after e (cf. -idiare
> -ear, sedeam > sea, etc. ) real. As a conclusion
to his investigation respecting the home of the
poem, Menendez Pidal makes a statement of pro-
nounced interest to all who would restore the work
to a supposedly primitive form. His words are
' ' the study of the localization of the Cantar . . .
86
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 3.
can give us very little margin, or none at all, for
deductions based only on the dialect of the primi-
tive poet, and we believe that we should reject all
such systems as that employed by J. Cornu in his
Verbesserungsvorschlage zuin Poema del Cid" (p.
76). To this we give a partial assent, but it is
meet to remark that a restoration of the text in
accordance with the theory of an original metre
consisting of double romance verses is not de-
pendent upon matters of dialect.
But this very theory Mene'ndez Pidal, after
having accepted it for several years, now rejects,
displaying the reactionary tendency to which we
alluded further back, and argues that in its first
form the poem was unmetrical, despite the fact
that it still shows a large number of true romance
verses in its half-lines and has an even larger
number of good alexandrines. He admits that
the romance hemistich is the form of versification
tn the Rodrifjo, in the rhymed portions of the
Croniea particular del Cid, in the fragments of
the poem on the Infantes de Lara, and in the
early historical ballads, and that it is rational to
suppose it to have been the form adopted by the
poet of the Poema del Cid. Yet Mcndndez Pidal
discards a theory resting on grounds of antecedent
probability as strong as these, largely because he
does not think that scribes, in making the succes-
sive copies resulting in the unique manuscript pre-
served to us, could have garbled the document
into its present condition showing hemistichs of 5,
6 and 9 syllables as well as those of 7 and 8. If
Mene'ndez Pidal is right, he must admit that the
poet was a most uncouth workman, and, in truth,
he does seem inclined to regard him as a mere
minstrel, a juglar, with little knowledge of the
leading historical facts of the Cid's active life and
interested mainly in the perpetuation of a certain
local legend appertaining to the Cid's daughters.
Much may be said for this point of view, yet we
find it difficult to conceive of a twelfth century
minstrel able to construct a poem revealing so
many elements of conscious artistry as the Poema
del Cid displays, who was still in so elemental a
state of mind with regard to metrics. It is to be
remembered, too, that the Poema del Cid is hardly
the first in the series of Old Spanish epic poems
once existing. There is little a priori reason for
supposing it poetically primitive, even though we
put it in a class entirely apart from the clerkly
Auto de los Reyes Magos, which is almost contem-
poraneous with it and exhibits a highly developed
metrical structure. At least for the present we
prefer to abide by the belief that the deplorable
state of the poem with respect to its metrics is to
be charged to the account of a redactor who
deliberately sought to replace the original octo-
syllabic hemistichs by half-alexandrines and met
with but indifferent success. After all, Mene'ndez
Pidal would seem to be in a state of scientific
uncertainty as to this whole subject : this, at any
rate, we feel prompted to iufer from the following
remark :
"What is certain," he says (p. 101), "is that
there is still an abyss between the metre of the
Cantar de Mio Cid and that of the romances.
Aside from the metrical inequality of the Cantar,
the fundamental verse is of 7 + 7 syllables, now
with a syllable lacking (naturally in the first
hemistich : 6 + 7) and now with one in excess
(naturally in the second hemistich : 7 + 8). A
simple tendency toward normalization could have
given as a result a 'single verse of 7 + 7. It re-
mains, then, to explain why in the Rodrigo and
the Cantar de los Infantes de Lara, the octo-
syllabic principle is already predominant, and in
the romances becomes regular. Perhaps it was
always the basis of the popular poetry, and only
at a given period, which was that of the Cid,
•under the influence of the two French epic
metres, 5+7 and 7 + 7, did there come and im-
pose itself the heptasyllabic basis, which was aban-
doned as soon as that French influence weakened. "
As a logical result of his arguments, he must
conclude that ' ' in consequence of the metrical
irregularity of the Cantar de Mio Cid . . . the
metre is of little utility in the way of suggesting
textual corrections." We frankly confess that
we are still of a different opinion ; we do not fol-
low Cornu in all his methods of reconstruction of
the poem, but we still consider the octosyllabic
hemistich as a plausible basis of emcndatory sug-
gestion. The assonance Mene'ndez Pidal deems
quite useful in this connection ; for in the rhymes
he discovered (page 103) "certain fixed princi-
ples to which the poet adhered ' ' ; and the reason
for this difference is, he assumes, that "in the
development of the Castilian epic verse assonance
was regularized much earlier than metre ; asso-
nance was from the beginning the essential artistic
March, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
87
element, while metre imposed itself only slowly
and unconsciously." This is a view which hardly
accords with the history of metre and rhyme as
developed through the Middle Ages, both in
Latin — and let us remember what hymnology
shows us here — and in the vernacular, and it is
not to be admitted too readily for Spanish, in
which we have preserved in complete poetic shape
so slight a proportion of the early epic.
The details of Menendez Pidal's exhaustive
examination of the metrical and assonantal status
of the poem we cannot stay to discuss here. We
agree with most of the principles which he de-
duces, and, in particular, we think that he is
right in banishing from oxytonic &, 6, i asso-
nances all concomitances except those in unac-
cented e and i. Like Coester, he dismisses as
unlikely a number of other concomitances which
were admitted by Restori, Mila, Lidforss and
Dozy. A notable outcome of the whole investi-
gation of the versification of the poem is that
(page 123) "it does not contradict the absolute
unity of composition which in its three parts [the
Exile of the Cid, the Wedding of his Daughters,
and the Outrage in the Oak-Grove of Corpes]
there is revealed in the subject matter, in the
personages and in the geography."
( To be continued. )
J. D. M. FOKD.
Harvard University.
LESSINGIANA.
MEHRING, Die Lessing- Leg ende. 2. Aufl. Stutt-
gart, 1906. xxxii -f 426 pp.
OTTO ERNST, Lessing. Berlin and Leipzig, no
date (Die Diehtung, xxxv). 79 pp.
These two books, apparently so different at first
sight, are really members of the same great family.
Each has a thesis to prove and each takes one
small part of Lessing and develops that into a
book to prove it. It makes no difference with
this kind of book whether the author be friendly
to the great man whom he needs for laboratory
purposes or not. In the present instances it hap-
pens that both are ardent admirers of Lessing.
Mehring's book is frankly tendentitious and
iconoclastic. It is socialistic in tone and in its
negativ criticism attempts to destroy the " bour-
geoise ' ' legend which has, according to Mehring,
grown up around Lessing. He is not the ardent
filosemite, not a seeker after Prussian favors,
and has no part in the universal adulation of the
house of Hohenzollern. He is rather at the oppo-
site pole, is pure Saxon (not Slav !) in education,
feeling and interest ; he owes nothing to Berlin,
to the French circle at the court of Frederick the
Great and above all, nothing to the inspiration of
a national feeling aroused by Hohenzollern prow-
ess in the Seven Years' War. In attempting to
break up this notion, Mehring also finds it neces-
sary to combat the idea that the house of Hohen-
zollern and Prussia have any permanent value in
German history. He also attempts to dissipate
the halo that surrounds Frederick the Great,
whose so-called liberal pronunciamentos on the
freedom of the press, etc., Mehring regards as
mere diplomatic tricks or shams of one sort or
another ; in reality, Frederick far from being a
liberal co-worker with Lessing in the progress of
the nation upward, was a narrow, eighteenth cen-
tury despot, the vassal in turn of France, Russia
and England. The so-called age of Frederick
owes nothing to him, even in the way of spur or
example.
Whatever truth or novelty there may be in
the book, it contains many interesting sugges-
tions and proves many of its individual points
as far as the layman is concerned. The author,
who for a number of years was connected with
Die Neue Zeit, knows how to present his case
vividly, even drastically, and even the continued
vituperation of Scherer and his school (Erich
Schmidt, Sauer) does not make the work less
interesting or less worth reading. There is, more-
over, one fruitful idea at the basis of all the
polemics and that is the relation of social and
economic conditions to literary output. But here
lies also the weakness of the book, for the author
sees all history only from the socialistic stand-
point and will not grant any other point of view
a right to existence. This one-sidedness blinds
him to the esthetic side of literature ; the prodesse
88
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 3.
has supplanted the delectare and moreover the
relations of the subjectivity of the author to his
creativ work, the delight in creation and the
relief after the pains are over are left entirely out
of the discussion. Finally, the attempt to see in
Lessing only the forerunner of modern Socialism
is narrow and unscientific. It would be quite as
senseless to deny him all bredth of vision and
all democracy of hart.
The very external form of Otto Ernst's book is
symbolic of its contents. Its fine leather binding,
its delicate end-papers, its clear type and its ac-
ceptable if not novel illustrations, make a direct
esthetic appeal. But the picture that is drawn
is one that Lessing himself would never recognize
and the tone of the book is not the Lessing tone.
Ernst starts from the idea that Lessing is a poet
and not a retorician and illustrates by examples
of the effect of Lessing' s three great dramas upon
himself. In the case of Minna he uses the old
device of regarding Minna as a real person with
whom he is in love and who gives him the mitten.
This highly subjectiv treatment, with its direct
appeal to the emotions and its occasional clithy-
rambics is quite as one-sided as Mehring's work
and its polemics against pessimism and naturalism,
if polite, are none the less vehement. The weak-
ness of Ernst's treatment lies in the fact that
while he predicates the subjectiv cause as primal
and the objectiv effect as secondary and incidental,
he fails to develop this for Lessiug. But Ernst
sees and feels as a poet and a certain exuberant
naivete1 carries the work along. His book is a
good bit of evidence of the abiding power of
Lessing as a dramatist.
G. H. DANTON.
Stanford University, Cd.
SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES.
A History of Scandinavian Studies in American
Universities. With a Bibliography. By GEORGE
T. FLOM, Ph. D., Iowa City, Iowa, 1907.
66 pp. ( Iowa Studies in Language and Liter-
ature, No. 2.)
Professor Flom has here set forth the results of
a patient investigation of the past and present
condition of the study of the Scandinavian lan-
guages and literatures in American colleges and
universities. This was a task well worth under-
taking for several reasons. The information
gathered in these few score pages has frequently
been sought for in vain by students and others
interested in the field of Northern belles-lettres.
Even with an extensive collection of college cata-
logues and programmes at hand the data to be
gleaned has hitherto been but meagre, and it has
seldom been satisfactory on such points as the
character and extent of the instruction given, the
texts most commonly used in introductory courses,
and the authors studied in advanced or intensive
work. Professor Flora's paper gives us the
needed information on all these matters, and on
others equally interesting.
It is just a half century since a course in one of
the Northern languages was first announced in an
American college catalogue, viz., in that of New
York University in 1858. But as the arrange-
ment was only temporary and little or nothing
resulted from it, a passing reference to it will
suffice. The real beginning of the study of the
Scandinavian languages in this country seems to
date from their simultaneous introduction into
the curricula of the University of Wisconsin and
Cornell University in 1869. Professor R. B.
Anderson was the pioneer instructor at Wisconsin
and Professor Willard Fiske at Cornell. Colum-
bia University followed in 1880-81, Professor C.
Sprague Smith giving a course in Danish that
year. At Harvard the first encouragement of
the study of Old Norse came from Professor
Francis J. Child, who was also thoroughly at
home in the modern Danish and Swedish. But
the first formal course in Icelandic was given in
1888 by Professor Eugene H. Babbitt to a class
of ten students. Norwegian was introduced in
1899.
At the present time about one hundred courses
are being offered in twenty-nine of our higher
institutions of learning. Of the latter, ten are
in the East, sixteen in the Central States, and
three on the Pacific Coast. In the South no
institution has permanently introduced the sub-
ject, and it has actually been taught in only one.
The literary side of Old Norse has been em-
phasized at Harvard, Yale, and Wisconsin, and
March, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
89
iu the advanced courses at Columbia and Iowa
Universities. At Bryn Mawr, Chicago, Cornell,
University of Pennsylvania, and Western Reserve
the philological aspect has received most atten-
tion. Of the modern languages, Norwegian is
most generally studied, and the writings of
Bjornson aud Ibsen are the texts most frequently
read. Wisconsin is the only institution which
offers instruction in the Landsmaal and its liter-
ature. The Swedish language and literature is
taught in only about one-half of the twenty-nine
institutions. Danish literature is naturally studied
in connection with the Norwegian. The general
relation of the latter to the Danish is much like
that which American literature bears to English
down to the time of the Revolution, except that
some of the greatest names in Danish literature
of the eighteenth century are those of writers of
Norwegian birth. From the naediseval period
until 1814 their literature is a common one,
since the language of the educated and official
classes in Norway was wholly Danish. Modern
Norwegian literature proper begins with the
political separation of Norway from Denmark in
1814. The two literatures are therefore neces-
sarily studied together if a survey of the early
period is included in the course.
In summing up the present needs of students,
Professor Flom rightly considers the following as
the most important : (1) Suitable English gram-
mars of both the Old Norse and the modern lan-
guages, and (2) annotated texts of the chief
works or most representative writings of the classic
authors in the Northern literatures. Our equip-
ment in these respects is indeed slight and inade-
quate. It will not do to say that our wants are
already supplied to an extent sufficient for the
demand, and, if more is required, there are Ger-
man text-books in plenty. It is entirely con-
ceivable that a serious, earnest student may not
know German, and yet wish to learn to read the
sagas in their original Icelandic and the dramas
of Holberg and Ibsen in their native Danish and
Norwegian dress.
Of the books at present accessible, Groth's and
Sargent's grammars of the modern Dano-Nor-
wegian are by no means the definitive works for
American use : Olson's Norwegian Grammar and
Header and Carlson's Swedish Grammar and
Header are admittedly intended only for the
work of a first year course. For Icelandic, surely
something is needed to replace Sweet's Primer.
A translation of Kahle's Altislandisches Elemen-
tarbueh would be infinitely better than anything
we have now in English. And a few short Ice-
landic texts edited after the manner of Ranisch's
excellent Eddalieder in the Sammlung Goschen
would be of the greatest service to student and
teacher alike. Of edited texts of modern authors
all that we have as yet are Professor Flom's edi-
tion of Bjornson's Synnove Solbakken (1905) and
Professor Olson's edition of Ibsen' s Brand (1908).
The former was the first Norwegian text edited
for college use, although the language had been
taught in several of our colleges for nearly two
decades.
The Bibliography comprises some four hundred
and fifty titles arranged chronologically, the first
one being an article on Tegner's Frithiof Saga, by
H. W. Longfellow, in the North American Review
for July, 1837. They include individual books
on Scandinavian literature, language, history, etc. ,
articles in general and literary periodicals, con-
tributions and reviews in the leading philological
journals, similar articles in Norwegian and Swedish
journals published in this country, doctor's disser-
tations, and translations of the works of Scan-
dinavian writers.
The following additions might perhaps be
included in a future reprinting :
1828. Scandinavian Literature. (In The Amer-
ican Quarterly Review, Phila., 1828, v. 3, pp.
481-490). This was an appreciative review of
Rask's editions of the Eddas.
1841. Baird, Robert. Literature and education
in the Scandinavian countries. (In The American
Quarterly Register, Boston, 1841, v. 14, pp. 59-
67, 119-128.)
1845. Holberg, L. Niels Klim' s Journey under
ground; translated by John Gierlow, with a sketch
of the author's life. Boston, 1845, xix, 190pp.
1846. Oehlenschliiger, A. Corregio : a tragedy,
etc. . . . Translated from the German [by Mrs.
Eliza B. Lee]. Boston, 1846, xxxix, 303pp.
1847. Gierlow, J. Elements of the Danish and
Swedish languages. Cambridge, [Mass.] 1847,
iv, 70, 50 pp.
These American editions might also be noted :
90
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 3.
1850. Hertz, H. King Rene's daughter : a
Danish lyrical drama. Translated by Theodore
Martin. Boston, 1850, 4, 47 pp.
1868. Bremer, F. Homes of the New World.
New York, 1868, 2 v.
It is hoped that a way may be found for re-
printing a revised edition of this useful study, for
its typographical errors are distressingly numerous.
Professor Flom has doubtless been the unwilling
victim of an unusually ill-equipped printing firm.
W. N. C. CARLTON.
Trinity College Library, Hartford, Conn.
THE DRAMA.
Das Moderne Drama von ROBERT F. ARNOLD,
a. o. Professor an der Universitat Wien.
Straszburg, Verlag von Karl J. Triibner, 1908.
Pp. x and 388.
The twentieth of October of this year (1908)
marks the nineteenth anniversary of the birth of
the New German Drama. However brief its
span of life, many have been the histories and
critiques of this, the most important type of
literary form. But all of them, almost without
exception, are ill-suited to the needs of the serious
student of the modern drama : their authors
either presuppose too much knowledge of the
subject on the part of the reader, or, more
usually, give partial, often distorted views of the
men or books under discussion, or lastly fail to
make even mention of similar movements of
thought in other fields of human endeavor or in
foreign countries. Therefore the book before us,
written in a scientific spirit and given previously
as lectures before the Vienna University Exten-
sion and then at the University of Vienna, and
meeting, doubtless, the needs of those students, is
especially welcome at this time.
Professor Arnold did not aim, as the preface
informs us, at completeness of names, titles and
dates, but rather at true proportion and perspec-
tive. Nevertheless, so many of them were intro-
duced, especially because of the very full treat-
ment of the German drama of to-day, that it was
deemed advisable (fortunately !) to append in-
dexes of persons and dramas. The value of the
book would have been further enhanced, however,
if a table of contents had been inserted. Owing
to this (one is inclined to say inexcusable) omis-
sion, it will surely not be inopportune to give a
brief analysis of the twelve chapters or lectures of
this in other respects carefully planned work.
The first lecture, then, discusses succinctly the
history during the nineteenth century of the
theater, its competitors, dramatic criticism, and
the social and economic position of the actors.
The second offers a resume of the dramatic activity
of the Romantic School and Young Germany
(1800-1848). In the third lecture the work of
the three great dramatists, Hebbel, Ludwig and
Richard Wagner, who until recently were under-
estimated or slighted in dramatic criticism, is ade-
quately treated (1848-70). The low ebb in the
German drama whicli followed upon the close of
the Franco-Prussian War and the consequent
multitudinous importations of French plays, the
three foremost playwrights of this period (1870-
85), Wilbrandt, Wildenbruch and Anzengruber,
the Schiller and Grillparzer prizes, the "Meinin-
ger" and Bayreuth performances — all these the
fourth lecture deals with. The fifth speaks of the
political, economic, scientific and artistic rise of
Germany since 1870, while the sixth, seventh and
eighth discuss respectively the drama in France,
Spain, Russia, etc., in northern countries (Nor-
way, Sweden, Denmark, Holland), and the Sym-
bolistic or New Romantic Drama outside of
Germany (Maeterlinck, d'Annunzio, and others).
After this survey of the dramatic situation in
foreign countries, the author turns to Germany
and Austria, and particularly the three centers,
Berlin, Munich and Vienna, the hotbeds of the
literary revolution of the eighties. He carefully
and impartially estimates what each group of
leaders contributed to this all -important move-
ment, especially by dint of their manifestoes and
original productions in such magazines as the
Gesellschaft, Zukunjt, etc.
The tenth lecture is devoted to an admirable
discussion of the " Freie Biihne" of Berlin, to
Hauptmann and Sudermann and their forerun-
ners, Schlaf and Holz. Professor Arnold believes
that the author of Und Pippa ianzi bears promise
of still greater achievements in the future, despite
March, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
91
occasional failures in the past, while Sudermann'a
power is already well-nigh exhausted. Other
dramatists, such as the North Germans Halbe,
Hartleben, Hirschfeld, Wedekind, the Austrians
Bohr, Schnitzler, Brunner, Schonherr, are tersely
characterized in the eleventh lecture, which also
analyzes the milieu and subject matter of the
drama for the past decade or two. The chapter
closes with an explanation of ' ' Heimatkunst ' ' as
advocated by Bartels and Lienhard, and a brief sur-
vey of the more or less successful dialectic drama.
The twelfth lecture, finally, perhaps the most
stimulating and helpful of all, may bear the head-
ing "The New Romanticism." The lyrists,
Bierbaum, Dehmel, Stefan George, and the his-
toric drama, the themes of which are drawn under
the influence of Nietzsche, from the Orient, Hel-
las, the Renaissance and Reformation, and the
French Revolution, are considered as well as the
Romantic Drama, introduced by Fulda's "Talis-
man" and ably represented by the productions of
Elsa Bernstein (pseud. Ernst Rosmer), Hofmanns-
thal and Vollmoeller. Whatever may be the
fate of the German drama in the twentieth cen-
tury, says Professor Arnold, this much we make
bold to assert : it is not facing another decline.
It must be freed, however, from the trammels of
pernicious newspaper criticism and from the
desire, on the part of the playwright, for gain
and popularity, before the great dramatist of the
age can arise. Such a one will take as the
measure of his efforts only the ideal hovering
before him and its immanent laws.
A word, in conclusion, regarding the thirty
pages of bibliography. Although the author did
not purpose compiling a complete list of reference
books, yet he included all important works, even
pamphlets and magazine articles, bearing on each
chapter, with occasional comments to indicate
their scope or value. Of especial interest is the
rather full bibliography of nearly all the leading
German theaters. This feature of the book will
•be appreciated not only by the general student
but also the specialist.
Because Das Moderne Drama is so well organ-
ized, it can be recommended without hesitation to
those who are drifting compassless on the sea of
the modern drama.
MAX BATT.
North Dakota Agricultural College.
MEDIEVAL ALLEGORY.
The Four Daughters of God : A Study of the Ver-
sions of this Allegory with especial reference to
those in Latin, French, and English. A Dis-
sertation Presented to the Faculty of Bryn
Mawr College for the Degree of Doctor of
Philosophy by HOPE TEAVEE, 1907. Phila-
delphia : The John C. Winston Co., 1907. 165
pp., with bibliography and chart exhibiting the
relationship of versions discust.
This dissertation has first of all the merit of
really entering new territory. The favorite plots
of medieval narrators have been studied with great
diligence by literary genealogists, with the curious
omission of one group, — the religious allegories.
The fables and the stories employed by Chaucer
and Marie de France have been exhaustively
inapt and charted ; but the great allegorical
forms of the age of allegory, except for a few im-
perfect and fragmentary comparative studies, have
hitherto been neglected. Yet these plots were at
least as popular with medieval narrators ; and
they are capable, too, of receiving definition quite
as precise and yielding genealogies quite as articu-
late. The allegory here selected is one of the
slightest, forming essentially but a single scene
with the content of a single verse of the psalter ;
and here if anywhere it might seem impossible to
determine anything like a system of relationships.
But the little scene proves, on the contrary,
capable of remarkable expansion and modification
— not only making itself at home in diverse lit-
erary forms, both of prose and poetry, but also
variously modifying its very spirit. Now it
appears as a peg on which to hang endless wire-
drawn theological argument, now as a feudal ro-
mance, now as an elaborate medieval trial, now as
a long allegorical epic, at one time a completed
drama in itself, at another a framework supplying
introduction, links, and conclusion for a dramatic
cycle. Relationships are found to be comparatively
easy to fix ; and only occasionally, when the version
is exceedingly abbreviated or especially original,
is Miss Traver compelled to confess inability to
find at least an approximate source.
In all over fifty different versions are compared,
chiefly, as the title indicates, in Latin, French,
and English, with a few closely involved versions
92
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 3.
in Dutch. They are found distributed over six
centuries of extraordinary popularity, from the
origin of the allegory in the Jewish Midrash, not
later than the tenth century, down to its latest
literary use by Giles Fletcher in the seventeenth.
Landmarks in this history are found in the ver-
sions of Hugo of St. Victor and Bernard of Clair-
vaux in the twelfth century, Robert Grosseteste
and Jacob van Maerlant in the thirteenth, and
Cardinal Bonaveutura of Padua and Guillaume
de Doguilleville in the fourteenth. Taken by Hugo
from its Jewish source and removed in setting
from the heavenly council preceding the creation
to the council preceding the redemption, the alle-
gory was recast and more completely Christian,
ized by Bernard. Grosseteste, in the Chasteau
d' Amour removed it from the heavenly to an
earthly court and transformed it into a feudal
romance. Bonaventura, in the influential Medi-
tationes Vitae Christi, went back to Bernard, but
supplied a new introduction and fresh arguments.
The Dutch versions, beginning with Maerlant's
Merlijn, fused with the allegory of the four graces
the equally ancient allegory of a struggle between
good and evil powers for man's soul. This con-
flict between good and evil was further expanded
by Deguilleville, after the manner of the Roman
de la Rose, in his three-fold romance of the soul's
history, in which he twice inserted the allegory of
the graces, once with an important modification.
Almost all the other versions are found to be
groupt around these six. The earliest in English,
the Vices and Virtues (dated about 1200), is per-
haps dependent on Bernard, as is certainly Lyd-
gate's Life of Our Lady in the fifteenth century.
From the Chasteau d' Amour are traceable of
course its English translation the Cursor Mundi,
several versions in French romances of the thir-
teenth century, the Oesta Romanorum, and indi-
rectly thru the Gesta the French moralities.
From the Meditationes of Bonaventura come its
English translation by Nicholas Love in the
Speculum Vitae Christi in 1410, the version in
the contemporary Vita Christi of Ludolphus,
which appears in paraphrase in the fifteenth cen-
tury Passioun of Christ of Walter Kennedy, and
indirectly the English moralities. The Devil
motive, first appearing in the thirteenth century
Merlijn (tho Miss Traver gives reasons to believe
that Maerlant was following an older source now
lost) appears again during the next hundred years
in Italian, French, and Dutch poems, and receives
its most popular form in the Processus Belial of
Jacopo da Theramo in 1381. Upon Theramo
depends the treatment as found in a Provenfal
mystery cycle. The novel form given the alle-
gory by Deguilleville serves as model for the
French Passion Play of Mercade in the early
fifteenth century, and fifty years later for that of
Greban. From Greban's Mysore de la Passion,
with in some cases "contaminating" influence
from Bonaventura, come the versions of the other
French mysteries. Lastly, we consider certain
versions handled with much originality and for
that reason difficult or impossible to assign to any
definite source : such are those found in Piers
Plowman, in the Court of Sapience, which Miss
Traver pronounces one of the most charming ver-
sions of the allegory, in the Marian morality
Respublica, and in Giles Fletcher's Christ's
Victory.
It is interesting to find the allegory connected
also with the names of Shakspere and Milton.
Johnson reports two plans left by Milton for a
' ' Tragedy or Mystery ' ' on this theme, one of
which suggests the original Midrash form, the
other the traditional form. The connection with
Shakspere is more doubtful. It consists in cer-
tain similarities between the trial scene in the
Merchant of Venice and the ' ' Proces ' ' in Gre-
ban's mystery. In both there is the same prob-
lem at bottom — how to reconcile the claims of
justice and mercy — and there are some striking
special parallels in the development of the two
scenes. Miss Traver concludes that, altho it is
impossible in the present state of our knowledge
of the sources of the Merchant of Venice to explain
these similarities with the fifteenth century mys-
tery, they are too striking to be dismist as mere
coincidences.
Perhaps the most valuable discoveries of the
study are in connection with the English morali-
ties. The two versions found in the Salutation
and Conception play of the so-called Coventry
cycle and in the Castle of Perseverance, tho inde-
pendent of each other, are shown to offer special
resemblances in structure, and often in phrasing,
to a version in the fourteenth century prose treat-
March, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
93
ise, The Charter of the Abbey of the Holy Ghost,
ascribed to Kichard Rolle of Hampole. As Miss
Traver makes clear, however, it is improbable
that either morality version is derived directly
from the Charter, but likely instead that all three
follow independently a lost common original dif-
fering but slightly from the Meditationes of Bona-
ventura. This lost original may have been dra-
matic, perhaps a French mystery.
This comparatively scanty showing made by
the allegory in the English drama might have
been bettered by one addition if we had the
missing second part of the Pride of Life. So Miss
Traver conjectures from the prolog, in opposition
to Brandl, who suggests instead that the allegory
there used was the Debate between Soul and Body.1
The wording is obscure, but a comparison with the
corresponding part of the Castle of Perseverance
prolog,2 where the episode of the four graces is
similarly advertised as the intervention of "our
lofly lady," supports Miss Traver' s view. If it
were originally used in the Pride of Life, the alle-
gory would seem to have been similar in type to
that of the Dutch poems or of Deguilleville. In
connection with Deguilleville, another of the Eng-
lish moralities might have been cited for a prob-
able reminiscence, altho it does not contain the
allegory itself. Deguilleville' s introduction of the
character of Sapience to take the role of Christ as
arbitrator between the four daughters is called by
Miss Traver his most important modification ;
and the same identification runs thruout the
morality Wisdom Who Is Christ. In the Castle
of Perseverance, on the other hand, the influence
from Deguilleville which she promises (in a note
on page 94) to discuss in a later chapter, but
which she has apparently overlookt, is not obvious.
It is perhaps ungracious to criticise the study
on the score of its omissions, since the author
expressly disclaims completeness, even in the re-
stricted field of Latin, French, and English. Still
it is regrettable to find no word of two dramatic
versions which are remarkable alike for their
early use of the allegory and for their very early
adaptation of the dramatic form to an allegorical
1 A. Brandl, Qudlen des weltlichen Dramas in England,
Qnellcn und Forschungen, LXXX, p. xviii.
8 Compare the Pride of Life, 11. 97-112, with the Cattle
of Perseverance, 11. 118-130.
theme — the two twelfth century Anglo-French
moralities by Guillaume Herman and (possibly)
Stephen Langton. Both are described by Ward
and by Chambers.3 They would seem antecedent
to any of the versions cited except the two earliest,
those of Hugo and Bernard ; and they precede
by considerably over a century the Maestricht
Plays, which Miss Traver cites (page 78) as the
earliest appearance of the allegory in the drama.
Their appearance is indeed probably to be re-
garded as sporadic, and they could hardly have
been influential ; but they certainly deserve at-
tention. Another omission occurs in the treat-
ment of the Gesta Romanorum. The allegory as
it appears in the Latin version of the Gesta is
summarized and its departures from its ancestor,
the Chasteau d" Amour, and approaches to its
descendants, the French moralities, admirably
analyzed. But nothing is said of the striking
differences between the Latin and the English
version of the tale, altho Herrtage's edition* is
cited. The omission, fortunately, does not in-
validate Miss Traver's conclusions, for the English
version is even closer to Grossetestc than the Latin.
As a link between the source in Grossteste, how-
ever, and the diverging Continental version, it
supplies an interesting confirmation of Oesterley's
theory that England was the original home of the
Gesta Romanorum and the English the earlier
version. It was also perhaps not without influ-
ence in the subsequent history of the allegory, for
a comparison with the Court of Sapience suggests
that it rather than Grosseteste and rather than
the Continental version was the immediate model,
at least of the first part. Finally, on page 158
Miss Traver has cited a rather remote story from
the fifteenth century example book Jacob's Well,
but has overlookt a story in the same collection
which is closer on the whole to our allegory.5
But some omissions, in tracing the history of so
extraordinarily widespread a form thru a field
hitherto so little explored, were inevitable. Miss
3 Ward, Hist, of Eng. Dram. Lit., i, 25, 105; Cham-
bers. The Medieval Stage, n, 152.
4 S. Herrtage, The Early English Versions of the Gesta
Romanorum, E. E. T. S., ext. ser. xxxm, pp. 132-135.
5 Jacob's Well, ed. Arthur Brandeis, E. E. T. S., orig.
ser. cxv, pp. 138-141 : " Angels and Fiends contending
for the Kich Man's Soul."
94
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 3.
Traver's dissertation certainly illuminates a terri-
tory that has too long been left obscure by the
students of medieval literature, and incidentally
presents a number of valuable suggestions and
discoveries.
ROBERT L. RAMSAY.
University of Missouri.
BEOWULF.
Beowulf nebst dem Finnsburg-Bruchstuck mitEin-
leitung, GlossarundAnmerkungen herausgegeben
von F. HOLTHAUSEN. I. Teil : Texte und
Namenverzeichnis. [Alt- und mittelenglische
Texte herausgegeben von L. Morsbach und F.
Holthausen. Bd. 3.] Heidelberg : Carl Win-
ter's Universitatsbuchhandlung ; New York :
G. E. Stechert. (1905.) 112pp.
The appearance of this edition is an event in
the annals of Beowulf bibliography. Coming from
a distinguished Old English scholar and an ac-
knowledged master of textual criticism, it is fully
abreast of the progress of Beowulf studies and
shows a marked advance over its predecessors.
In contrast with the editions of Heyne-Socin and
Wyatt, it recognizes to the fullest extent the met-
rical principles established by Sievers, which call
for a large number of slight changes. Also in
other respects it is clearly seen to be absolutely
free from what has been styled by the editor the
'curse of conservatism.' Yet it contains much
less of the provisional and speculative element
than Trautmann's recension. For while the lat-
ter apparently is not designed as a text-book and
certainly is what it claims to be, a ' bearbeiteter
Text,' Holthausen's text is primarily meant for
college use and follows strict business principles,
which forbid unnecessary and individualistic alter-
ations.
Of course, opinions will be found to differ in
many cases as to the necessity of an emendation.
Personally I am in favor of a more cautious treat-
ment of the transmitted text. As a number of
instances in which I am bound to disagree with
Holthausen, have been discussed in my papers
published within the past year in Mod. Phil.,
Mod. Lang. Notes, Anglia, H. Archiv, I trust I
shall be excused from going over the same
ground again. I should like, however, to express
in this place a doubt as to the advisability of
assuming a gap of (at least) two half-lines in so
many places as Holthausen has done.1 It is true,
some words may very well have dropped out after
11. 935, 1106, 1174, but most of the other pas-
sages involved seem to me to admit of a reasonable
interpretation without drastic measures. As an
instance (of a debatable character) I mention
1. 1981 : geond /><xt side reced Hwre&es dohtor.
There seems to me greater risk in assuming a
lacuna than in regarding side (cf. geond />ad
side sel, Andr. 762), which is added above the
line ("in the same hand I think, but with
another ink" Zupitza) as a wrong insertion in
place of heal or hea (Sievers, Beitr., x, 313) ;
cf. hand for mund 965, hild for Und 1073.
Moreover, Hcerefies dohtor / lufode 65 leode need
not be taken as parenthetical, as lufian may de-
note 'manifest one's love,' 'treat kindly' (H.
Archiv, cix, 305).
A good many emendations are original with the
editor, the majority of them having been previously
published in various journals, especially in Z. f.
d. P., xxxvn, 113ff. Not a few are singularly
ingenious, and several appear either positively
convincing or distinctly probable. As a splendid
specimen eame on eaxle 1117, may be cited.
A few casual notes may be subjoined. Line
1022 ff. Of the two possible punctuations the fol-
lowing is to be preferred : . . . helm ond byman ; /
moire ma8/>um3weord manige gesdwon / beforan
beorn beran. Cf. Mod. Phil., in, 244. L. 1032 f.
The simplest and most satisfactory solution of the
difficulty would be to write (with Thorpe) meahte,
with the understanding that the singular lafh&s
collective force. L. 1302. Why should the MS.
reading be changed ? under heolfre means ' cov-
ered with blood ' (= blodge beadufolme 990) ; cf.
H. Archiv, civ, 291. L. 2586 ff. I cannot bring
myself to believe that grundwong should not
denote the same as eormengrund, ginne grund.
LI. 25866-88 and 2589-90a express nearly the
same idea, the former negatively, the latter posi-
tively. Considering further the contrast between
wolde and sceolde [ofer] willan, we may venture
to translate literally : ' that was not a ready (will-
'Also Tnuitimnn, Banner Scitr., xvu, 177, mentions
this point.
March, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
95
ing) journey (or, course of action) (i. e.~) that the
illustrious son of Ecg6eow was willing to leave the
earth ; against his will he had to take up his abode
elsewhere.' [Of. Engl. St. xxxix, 466.]
A convenient typographical innovation of this
edition deserves especial mention. Following Bui-
bring' s suggestion, Holthausen writes the short
diphthongs as &a, go aud the long ones as ea, eo
and is thus enabled to employ ea and eo for met-
rical dissyllables, as nean, flcon. But would not
the distinctions ea, ea (ea), ea; eo, eo (eo), to,
though by no means perfect, be on the whole
more satisfactory? (E. g., heard, breac, gear a,
Man ; eorfte, deop, geomor, teon. ) Finally, atten-
tion may be called to the interesting Urtext of the
first fifty-two lines which the editor has attempted
to reconstruct.
When the second part — including the Introduc-
tion, Glossary, and Notes — is completed, students
of Beowulf will no doubt have every reason to con-
gratulate themselves on having at their service an
up-to-date edition both scholarly and practical.2
FK. KLAEBEE.
The University of Minnesota.
CORRESPONDENCE.
CHAUCER AND THE Cleomad'es.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — In the Publications of the Modern Lan-
guage Association, vol. 23, pp. 557-598, Mr. H.
8. V. Jones has collected a large amount of folk-
lore relating to the Cleomades. In a footnote on
p. 598, he advances, tho tentatively, the theory
that the Cleomadh was one of Chaucer's models
for the Squire's Tale. It seems to me that the
weight of probability against such a view is far
greater than Mr. Jones realizes.
If Chaucer had used the Cleomadh it is almost
certain that he would have carried over into his
version some passage or, at the very least, a fraze
from his model. The Cleomadh is, according to
Medieval standards, rather a brilliant poem, an
acquaintance with which would almost certainly
have left some unmistakable trace of itself in the
'Since writing the above — a couple of years ago — Hol-
thausen's complete edition has been reviewed by Seliiicking,
Engl. St. xxxix, 94 ff., Lawrence, J. Engl. and Gnv,.
Philol. VII, 125 ff., Deutscbbein. //. Arch, c'xxi, 1G2 fl.
English poem. Now, I have not been able to
find so much as a fraze in the Squire's Tale
that suggests borrowing from the Cleomades. If
another reader has had a different experience I
shall be extremely glad to hear from him. But
until some reader shall point out evidence of the
kind indicated, it seems to me that we shall not
advance the solution of the problem by assuming
the Clemnades to have been a source. I have
called attention to this matter on page 212 of my
Notes on Chaucer, which Mr. Jones seems to have
ignored.
HENRY BARRETT HINCKLEY.
Northampton, Mass.
Hamlet, n, 2. 181-187.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS :—
' 'Ham. For if the sun breed maggots in a dead
dog, being a good (god) kissing carrion — Have
you a daughter?
' ' Pol. I have, my lord.
"Ham. Let her not walk i' the sun : concep-
tion is a blessing ; but as your daughter may con-
ceive,—friend, look to 't."
Few passages in the play have caused more dis-
cussion than these lines, and the passage is still
debatable. I would suggest that when Hamlet
says, 'Let her not walk i' the sun,' he makes a
play on the word sun, just as he had previously
punned on the word, when, in response to the
King's :
How is it that the clouds still hang on you ?
he replied :
Not so, my lord ; I am too much i' the sun.
(i, 2. 66-67.)
The passage would then mean : If the sun breed
maggots in a dead dog, so the ardency of this son
may have a like effect upon your daughter if you
do not keep her out of the way, — a conception
that would not be at all to your liking. This in-
terpretation increases the harshness of these coarse
lines, but is consistent with Hamlet's broad
speeches to Ophelia in the play scene, and his
bitter words to her in the scene where she acts as
a decoy.
As to Hamlet's attitude toward Ophelia, critics
are agreed, either that his mother's conduct had
destroyed his confidence in women and conse-
quently had turned him against Ophelia, or else
that, in order to devote himself strictly to the
business in hand, he wished Ophelia to be out of
96
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 3.
sight and out of mind. My interpretation of the
passage lends itself to either of these alternatives.
The interpretation also leaves the reading of
line 182 as debatable as before. If one follows
the folios and quartos in reading ' good kissing
carrion,' Harnlet would imply that Ophelia is
commonplace, but good enough for a passing
amour ; if one favors the conjectured ' god kissing
carrion,' the figure would imply the great dis-
parity in their stations, he a prince, she a woman
of altogether vulgar lineage. Hamlet's aristo-
cratic notions are several times voiced in the play.
FREDERICK MORGAN PADELFORD.
University of Washington.
A NOTE ON SPANISH ORTHOGRAPHY.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — In the eighteenth century, Spaniards
wrote un Espanol, los Franceses, referring to per-
sons ; nowadays they write un espanol, los fran-
ceses. Yet the old use of capitals is given as that
of modern Spanish by a few grammars, for ex-
ample, Edgren's, Knapp's and Ramsey's. Is
there any need of teaching this inconsistency that
has been given up by Spaniards? It evidently
was an inconsistency (and is still such in French),
since the logical relation of un muchacho pobre to
los pobres is the same as that of un muchacho
griego (un enfant grec) to los griegos (les Grecs).
In Blanco Garcia' s Litcratura espanola there is a
paragraph (vol. iii, p. 261) beginning " Aunque
castellano de nacimiento, llego a encarinar.se M.
Martinez y Gonzalez con la lengua y las costurn-
bres de Galicia. ' ' Can some French reader tell
us whether castellano is here a substantive or an
adjective, and why? Either treatment of the
word seems suitable in English : Castilian-Span-
ish or a Spaniard of Castile.
E. H. TUTTLE.
New Haven, Conn.
NOTICE OF OMISSIONS.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — I am asking for the privilege of printing
here for the convenience of the reader some refer-
ences which were carelessly omitted by me in my
article, The Source of the Fountain Story in the
Twain, in Modern Philology for January, 1909.
They are the following :
P. 334. The Giraldus stories were pointed out
in connection with the fountain of Bareuton by
San Marte, Die Arthur Sage, 1842, p. 154.
P. 335. The Neckhara story is mentioned, also
in this connection, by A. C. L. Brown, A Study
in the Origins of Arthurian Romance, Harvard
Studies and Notes, 1903, vol. 8, p. 127, n. 1.
Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, 1878, vol. 1, p.
496, and San Marte, op. cit., p. 154, note the
Gervaise story.
P. 338, n. 2. For the Lucan reference see H.
de Villemarque', Les Romans de la Table Ronde,
Paris, 1861, p. 231, n. xii. Grimm, op. cit.,
vol. 1, p. 496, quotes Gregory of Tours to the
same purpose. See here also J. G. Keysler,
Antiquitates Selectee Septentrionales ct Celtics,
Hanover, 1720.
P. 338, n. 3. The G. le Breton parallel is
quoted by Villemarque, op. cit., p. 232.
P. 339. The Usements et Coustumes manu-
script is quoted by Villemarque, op. cit., p. 254.
See also Souvestre, Les Derniers Bretons, Paris,
1866, vol. 1, p. 112, n. The "Ris done" tale
is given by Villemarque', op. cit., p. 255, quoted
by Grimm, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 495, n. 1. The
Llanaelliaian custom is described in S. Baring-
Gould, A Book of North Wales, p. 110. The
Snowdon tradition has been repeatedly cited in
connection with the Barenton fountain. San
Marte points out the parallel, op. cit., p. 155.
See also the references given in J. Rhys, The
Hibbert Lectures, 1886, p. 185, n.
P. 340. For the story of Diarmait, see J.
Rhys, op. cit., pp. 181-91.
The greater part of these references have
already been pointed out by A. C. L. Brown in
his note on the Barenton legend cited above.
Sryn Mawr College.
LOUISE B. MORGAN.
BRIEF MENTION.
JAMES VILA BLAKE'S POEMS.
By publishing a little volume of selections from
the poems of James Vila Blake, the editor, Miss
Amelia Hughes, hopes to obtain a wider audience
for a poet too little known. The selections are
certainly striking and impressive ; full of poetic
thought and feeling, often very happily and force-
fully expressed. The technique also is admirable.
Mr. Blake's handling of rhythms is free, often to
an unusual degree ; but it is always controlled by
a fine ear, and never becomes harsh, nor seems
careless. Those who wish to find in poetry not
merely recreative fancies, but food for deep
thought, will appreciate the work of Mr. Blake.
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES
VOL. XXIV.
BALTIMORE, APRIL, 1909.
No. 4.
THE INDICATIVE AFTER A PRESENT,
THE SUBJUNCTIVE AFTER A PAST.
Grammarians have often called attention to the
fact that the indicative is usually employed after
a present tense, while the subjunctive may be used
in the same statement if a past tense be substituted
for the present tense in the principal proposition.
Wilmanns in his Deutsche Schulgrammatik, p. 90,
after stating the rule, adds here by way of illustra-
tion : "Man sagt : Ich weiss, dass er auf dem
Lande ist. Tritt aber das regierende Verbum ins
Prateritum, so lasst sich der Konjunktiv brauchen :
Ich wusste, dass er auf dem Lande ware. " Altho
this rule has often been correctly stated, the writer
is not acquainted with any work that has explained
this construction adequately or presented its history.
The writer's attention has recently been called
to this problem in the course of a spirited corres-
pondence regarding his article, The Use of the Sub-
junctive in German to Indicate Certainty or Fact,
which appeared in M. L. N., May, 1908, pp.
134-137. Several teachers of German have in
the form of detailed letters to the writer tried to
disprove his statement that the subjunctive is
often employed to indicate certainty or fact, and
quite independently of one another they all claim
that the fact that the indicative is often used after
a present tense, while the subjunctive is employed
after a past tense indicates clearly that the sub-
junctive in indirect discourse always has more or
less the force of uncertainty. Their common ar-
gument is that there is always in the nature of the
case something doubtful about an act that has
taken place in the past, as feelings and impres-
sions once vividly felt as true may later be dis-
carded. One of these correspondents calls atten-
tion to a passage on page 339 of Heyse's Deutsche
Orammatik, where the idea of unreality found in
the past subjunctive in unreal conditions such as
" Ich ware gliicklich, wenn ich gesund ware ' ' is
represented as the natural mingling of the force of
uncertainty contained in the subjunctive and the
uncertainty suggested by the form of the past
tense. The passage in question runs in part as
follows : " Die Priiteritalform driickt also den in
dem Konditionalis liegenden negativen Begriff
aus ; das Nichtwirklichsein des bloss hypothetisch
Angenomenen wird als ein Vergangenes aufge-
fasst." Later in this same connection attention
is called to the idea of unreality contained in the
past indicative in such sentences as "Maria Stuart
war (for ware) noch heute frei, wenn ich es nicht
verhindert (hatte)." This correspondent regards
the use of the subjunctive after a past tense as
quite similar to the use of the past tense in unreal
conditions, and concludes that there is in the sub-
junctive following a past tense a similar force of
uncertainty. The common conclusion reached by
all these correspondents working quite independ-
ently seemed to the writer to have considerable
weight, and has led him to reexamine the mate-
rials formerly collected by him and to reread the
Gothic documents and the principal Old High
German writings. The results of this study show
clearly that the theory of these correspondents is
entirely destroyed by the simple fact that from
the oldest historic period to the present day the
subjunctive is often used after a past tense to indi-
cate certainty or fact. In the statement " Quad,
wari er ana zuival des giweltig ubar al " (Otfrid's
Evangelienbuch, iv, 34. 17), it is evident that in
spite of the use of the subjunctive after a past tense
the author has taken especial pains to indicate
that the person whose words are indirectly reported
was absolutely convinced of the truth of the utter-
ance and the context clearly shows that the author
himself agrees with him. Also in modern German
many cases are so plain that there can scarcely be
a reasonable doubt that the subjunctive in our own
time even more so than formerly is often employed
after a past tense merely to indicate grammatical
dependence or, in other words, indirectness of
statement without a shadow of uncertainty im-
plied. Then the question arises : What is the
explanation of the use of the subjunctive after a
98
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 4.
past tense where the indicative is employed after
the present tense ?
Dr. Matthias gives an explanation of this con-
struction in his Sprachleben und Spraehschaden,
p. 387 ; Professor Wilmanns in his Deutsche
Grammatik, vol. in, p. 244, Anm. 2 ; Professor
Behaghel in -his Gebrauch der Zeitformen, p. 72 ;
Dr. Wunderlich in Der deutsche Satzbau, p. 350.
The treatment in each case is very brief and is in
part unclear to the writer. The views vary in
that the authors come to a totally different result
or are presenting only different phases of a larger
question. As these distinguished scholars have
not been able to agree and the problem demands
a solution, the writer after considerable hesitation
attempts to offer an explanation.
A reading of the principal Old High German
writings shows conclusively that it was also a rule
in the oldest period of historic German to employ
the indicative after a present tense : ' ' Giwisso
sagen ih thir ein : thar nirstirbit man nihein "
(Otfrid's Evangelienbuch, v, 23. 261). " Ih
sagen iu in alawara : ni wirdit in es mera" (ib.,
n, 20. 14). "Thoh sagen ih iu in war min : sie
warun manslagon sin" (ib., iv, 20. 39). "Ih
zellu hiar ubarlut : irstuant tho manag gotes
drut" (ib., iv, 34. 9). "Thir zell ih hiar nu
sun tar : was harto in leid thaz wuntar " (ib., Hi,
24. 112). This construction is very common in
Otfrid and hence there are many examples at our
disposal for purposes of study. An examination
of all these examples shows that in almost all of
them the construction of the clauses is paratact-
ical, and this is doubtless the original form of
such statements. The subordinate clause is in
fact an independent proposition, and hence the
indicative is natural. In most cases the principal
verb is in the first person as in the examples given
above. Altho the speaker begins by " I tell you "
he does not feel the following utterance as an indi-
rect report, but proceeds as in lively narrative to
tell the story in the indicative. The indicative is
also used after a past tense as the author forgets
that he is reporting indirectly and in lively tone
relates the occurrence, or where the subordinate
clause assumes subordinate form shows that he is
under the influence of direct narrative by using
the past indicative, the tense of direct narrative :
' ' Sliumo sageta er mo thaz, thaz er mo er kund
was" (ib., u, 7. 61). " Wanta ih thir," quad
er, "zalta, daz ih thih irkanta" (ib., n, 7. 69).
This is also very common in our own time : ' ' Ich
erfuhr von dem Gastwirt, die Herrschaften kamen
grade aus hiesigem Ort " ( Hoffmann' s Rittmeister,
p. 97). Sie telegraphierten iiber die neuesten
Ereignisse, dass am 30. Oktober einige junge
Armenier in das Regierungsgebande drangen und
dort auf den Kommandanten der Gendarmerie
sohossen (Kolnisehe Zeitung). Dr. Wunderlich
in his Satzbau, p. 350, seems to assert that only
the subjunctive can be used here after a past. It
must be a slip of his pen, for the indicative now
as in earlier periods, is common here. Thus the
indicative can be used after either a present or a
past tense. The reason why the subjunctive can-
not be used after a present tense, while it may be
employed after the past tense, seems to be that the
speaker employing the present tense feels so close
to the events that he relates them directly, while
if he is narrating of the past he may no longer
feel directly related to the events and may conse-
quently use the indirect form of statement, the
subjunctive, or he may under the influence of
livelier impressions feel a direct relation to them
and employ the past indicative as in narrative.
Thus the use of the indicative or subjunctive here
is not a question of the truth or the untruth of the
statement, but simply a question of directness or
closeness of the speaker's relation to the events
described. Thus the speaker can at all times
assume a close relation to the events. He can
even go into the past and from a point in past
time vividly look forward : " 's ist gut, aber ich
hiitt' nicht geglaubt, dass du dies Jahr noch fer-
tig wirst" (Hermann Hesse's Peter Camenzind,
p. 254) (the form wirst a present with the force
of the future ; future time to the subject of the
main verb at the moment in question, but past at
the time of utterance). " Ich hab' nicht gewusst,
dass der Herr Olten kommt" (Hermine Villin-
ger's Das letzte Wort) (kommt used with the same
temporal force as wirst in the preceding sentence).
It is a curious fact that all who have discussed
this question have positively stated that only the
subjunctive is used here. It is simply an over-
sight, for this construction is quite common in the
literature of our time. It seems to occur usually
in colloquial language.
April, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
99
Otfrid's choice of the verb of saying throws
some light upon the general question under con-
sideration. Wherever he assumes a direct rela-
tion to the events, i. e., where he feels inclined to
narrate himself, he chooses sagen and zellen, but
chooses quedan to report indirectly. Hence he
usually employs the indicative after sagen and
zellan, but uses the subjunctive after quedan in
every case but one. The subjunctive after quedan
does not necessarily denote uncertainty, indeed it
may clearly denote certainty as illustrated above.
The subjunctive in many cases here merely indi-
cates indirectness of statement. In a few cases
the subjunctive is used after zellen and in one
case after sagen. In most of these cases it seems
almost as tho Otfrid even here assumes a direct
relation to the events, i. e., he brands the state-
ments as false : ' ' zalt in in giwissi, thaz er then
man ni wessi" (iv, 18. 30). There are, how-
ever, two cases here where the subjunctive is used
merely to denote indirectness of statement, not
unreality, for in both cases the author evidently
believed the statements : ' ' Zaltun imo . . . thaz
... sin sun gineran wari" (in, 2. 28). " Ja
saget man, thaz zi waru sie scrigtin fon theru
baru" (iv, 26, 19). In spite of these excep-
tions it might possibly be true that by the use of
the subjunctive with zellen Otfrid felt at times an
impulse to differentiate the idea of unreality from
that of mere indirectness of statement expressed
by quedan with the subjunctive. Modern usage
is also struggling toward differentiation here by
discarding the old sequence of tenses and using in
the subordinate clause the principal tenses (pres-
ent, perfect, future) of the subjunctive to indicate
indirectness of statement and a historical tense
(past, past perfect, conditional) to denote unre-
ality : "Sie sagten, sie seien krank " (indirect
statement), but to denote unreality: "Undvon
Herzen wiinschen wir der Kundgebung den Er-
folg, dass sie den Glauben zerstoren hilft, dass
wir Deutschen wieder bloss em Volk von Denkern
und Dichtern und Traumern war en" (Hambur-
ger Naehrichten, Jan. 21, 1907). Real differen-
tiation has not yet been attained here, for the old
sequence is still widely used and hence after a
past tense we cannot distinguish indirectness of
statement from unreality : " Er sagte, er hiitte es
getan" (indirect statement or unreality).
Otfrid selects the indirect form with quedan
where there is a reference to the future in a nar-
ration of past events : "Erquad, er selbo quami "
(m, 3. 7). The past subjunctive quami corres-
ponds in direct discourse to the present indicative
with the force of the future. The present has
been attracted into the form of the past tense
under the influence of the preceding past tense.
Otfrid does not use the narrative form with sagen
or zellen here, for this would require a past in-
dicative in the subordinate clause and would point
to the past. As mentioned above, Modern Ger-
man can use the present indicative here with the
force of the future as Modern German has in part
emancipated itself from the older sequence of
tenses.
Professor Delbriick in Paul und Braunes JBei-
trdge, vol. 29, p. 235, explains Otfrid's use of
sagen and quedan quite differently : ' ' Bemerkens-
wert ist, dass quedan den Optativ, sagen den In-
dikativ liebt. Das erstere wird eine aus dem
Innern kommende Ausserung, sagen dagegen die
Mitteilung von Beobachtetem bezeichnet haben."
Professor Willmanns in his Deutsche Grammatik,
vol. in, p. 242, gives an explanation quite sim-
ilar if the writer understands the language. Thus
both of these scholars seem to mean that Otfrid
employs sagen with the indicative to denote a fact,
but quedan with the subjunctive to denote unre-
ality or a mere conception. To the writer this
view does not accord with the actual usage of
Otfrid. With this author it seems usually to be
a question of directness or indirectness of relation
to the events described. He used sagen or zellen
with the indicative for the direct form of narrative
and quedan with the subjunctive for the indirect
statement. To-day usage is more simple and just
as expressive. We employ in both cases sagen in
the principal proposition and according to the
meaning use in the subordinate clause the indic-
ative or subjunctive as explained above.
To avoid misunderstanding it should be added
that the above-discussed general rule does not
apply to statements containing the ideas of unre-
ality, uncertainty, doubt, or a subjective view.
Here the subjunctive is the rule, even after a
present tense : " Ich kann doch nicht sagen, dass
ich krank bin," I hesitate to announce the fact of
my sickness, but ' ' Ich kann doch nicht sagen,
100
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 4.
dass ich krank sei," I hesitate to pretend to be
sick. " Ich hore, dass es Deutsche seien." There
is a greater tendency to use the indicative in the
first person than in the third as the speaker
naturally regards his own beliefs and utterances
as facts: "Ich glaube, dass es Deutsche sind,"
but "Er glaubt, dass es Deutsche seien." After
a past tense the subjunctive is in general more
common with reference to the future than to the
past : " Es war gewiss, dass er log, gelogen hatte,
liigen werde " (or wurde). The subjunctive to-
day as formerly is quite common even after a first
person in the present tense when the governing
verb contains an expression of will : ' ' Ich will
nicht, dass auch nur ein einziger schlaff werde
durch Weibertranen und Weibergeschrei " (Su-
dermann's Teja, 1, 5).
GEOKGE 0. CUKME.
Northwestern University.
THE SOURCE OF THE MAIN PLOT OF
SHIRLEY'S LOVE TRICKS.
Koeppel * attributes to the influence of Jonson's
Silent Woman the part of Shirley's comedy Love
Tricks in which the old Rufaldo is married to
Antonio disguised as a woman and finds the bride
more than his match. But the similarity is only
in the general situation, and even here Shirley
was hardly indebted to Jonson ; for his main plot,
even in most of its details, is to be found in
Riche's Farewell to Militarie Profession, the eighth
history, "Of Phylotus and Emilia."2 Jonson
himself, indeed, in the points in which The Silent
Woman varies from Libanius, may have had in
mind this story of Riche ; but, unlike Love Tricks,
The Silent Woman resembles Riche's novel so
slightly that one is equally ready to believe Jon-
1 Ben Jonson's Wirkung auf zeitgenassische Dramatiker,
pp. 153, 154.
2 The same story, whether drawn from Eiche or not, is
dramatized, with little variation, in the Scottish play
Philotus (1603). See the Shakespeare Society's edition
of Kiche's Farewell, Intro., pp. viii, ix. Shirley would
more likely have known Riche's version than this,
however.
son followed Plautus's Casina or, as Symonds has
suggested, Aretino's II Marescalco.*
Shirley has complicated and enlarged Riche's
story, but his changes are not such as to obscure
in the least his source. He has taken over, for
example, all of Riche's characters, as the follow-
ing correspondences show :
Eiche. Shirley.
A young girl, - - - - Emilia. Selina.
Her old lover, - - - - Philotus. Rufaldo.
Her young lover, - - - Flavius. Infortunio.
Father of the girl, - - Alberto. Cornelio.
Brother of the girl, - - Philerno. Antonio.
Daughter of the old lover, Brisilla. Hilaria.
The story of Philotus and Emilia is briefly this.
Alberto would force his daughter Emilia to marry
Philotus. His age repels her more than his wealth
attracts, and, disguised as a man, she finally flees
to her lover, Flavius, who takes her to his home.
A servant sees her escape and discovers the matter
to Alberto. Father and old lover go in search of
her just as Alberto's sou, Philerno, who has been
reared at Naples and hence is a stranger to them,
comes to Rome to join his father's family. Phi-
lerno is immediately taken for Emilia, and, seeing
the drift of things, determines to play the part
assigned him and take the chance for an adven-
ture. Philotus asks that his presumptive bride
be given to him for safe keeping, and Philerno,
now dressed in his sister's clothes, is accordingly
presented to Philotus' s daughter, Brisilla, as her
future mother and her room-mate till the wed-
ding. Philerno persuades Brisilla that he has
been changed into a man in answer to their
desire, and the two accept each other as husband
and wife. On the first night after the public
marriage of Philotus, the supposed Emilia insists
that the matter of the mastery be decided between
them at once, and ends by giving the old bride-
groom such a beating that he readily consents to
the conditions imposed upon him, which concern
chiefly the ' ' bride' s ' ' freedom of movement and
right to separate herself from him. So Philerno
returns to Brisilla, leaving a courtesan to visit
Philotus later on as the bride. Meanwhile, Fla-
vius, who has seen the wedding ceremony, believ-
8 ltd. Lit., Vol. n, p. 178.
April, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
101
ing that Emilia has been married to Philotus and
that he ' ' hymself had been deceived by some
devill or spirite, that had taken upon hym the
likenesse of Emelia," thrusts the real Emilia out
of doors. Unable to convince Flavius of her
identity, she appeals to her father. The whole
company is brought together, explanations are
forced, and the marriage of Flavius and Emilia
and of Philerno and Brisilla follows.
In the corresponding parts of Love Tricks, Selina
at first refuses her lover Infortunio, and eagerly
accepts the wealthy old Rufaldo contrary to her
father's judgment — a change from Kiche's story
which is, to my mind, decidedly at the expense of
naturalness, for it leaves us unprepared to find her
the next day fleeing in shepherd's garb to escape
"such a heap of age, aches, and rheum." With
the bride missing on the wedding morn, her brother
Antonio, who is supposed to have gone in quest of
her, dons her clothes and plays her part at the
wedding. His ruse is for the sake of gaining
access to Hilaria, Rufaldo's daughter, who concurs
in the trick. On the first night Rufaldo fares as
Philotus does in Riche's story ; there is the same
scrimmage and the same victory for the "bride,"
much the same conditions being imposed upon the
thoroughly subdued husband and gratefully ac-
cepted by him, — with the result that the bride,
refusing to bear Rufaldo company, is sent to room
with Hilaria in order to save appearances. It is
this feature of a bridegroom's throwing his daugh-
ter into the hands of a lover who is supposedly
his own bride that distinguishes the story of Riche
and of Shirley from that of Plautus and from many
of its analogues. Meanwhile, Infortunio chances
upon Selina in shepherd's guise, but since he is
confident that Selina is Rufaldo's wife "or some
devil, in her likeness, has abused them all with
credulity," she too fails to convince her lover. So
she summons her father to the shepherds' rendez-
vous, and here, after explanations all around, Se-
lina is given in marriage to Infortunio and Hilaria
to Antonio.
Most of the minor points of resemblance are
unimportant or conventional, and it would be easy
to make too much of them. One is perhaps worth
mentioning. In Riche's novel, Phileruo tells Bri-
silla the story of Pygmalion in order to convince
her that Venus is able to grant their wish and
transform her father's bride into her husband.4
In Love Tricks, Gasparo says in connection with
Rufaldo's supposed transformation into a young
man :
"Are you in love ? nay, the wonder is not so
great ; who can express the power of love ? I have
read of a painter named Pygmalion, that made the
picture of a woman, ' ' etc. 6
Though it seems clear that Shirley drew from
Riche, and not from Jonson, the main motive of
his plot, he did borrow from The Silent Woman, I
think, one incident which Koeppel fails to point
out. In Love Tricks, the pretentious fool, Bubul-
cus, prodded by Gasparo, is led to confess that
Gorgon, a serving-man dressed as a woman, has
borne him children. The relation of this to the
episode of Daw, La-Foole, and Epicoene in The
Silent Woman is of course obvious.
The University of Texas.
C. R. BASKEEVILL.
GOETHE'S QUOTATION FROM HUTTEN
IN DICHTUNG UND WAHRHEIT. II.
A second error into which Loeper fell, owing to
defective memory, occurs in connection with his
attempt to show that Goethe's attention might
have been called to Hutteu by a certain article
published by Herder.
Goethe introduces his quotation from Hutten in
connection with his discussion of conditions in
Germany in 1775, in these words: "Zu dieser
Zeit war denn uberhaupt die Richtung nach der
Epoche zwischen dem fiinfzehnten und sechzehn-
ten Jahrhundert ero'fihet und lebendig. Die
Werke Ulrichs von Hutten kamen mir in die
Hande und es schien wundersam genug, dass in
unsern neuern Tagen sich das Ahnliche, was dort
hervorgetreten, hier gleichfalls wieder zu mani-
festieren schien. Folgender Brief Ulrichs von
Hutten an Billibald Pirkheimer diirfte demnach
hier eine schickliche Stelle finden."
Loeper's note (1. c., p. 169) runs: "In Von
deutscher Art und Kunst [1773] hatte Herder in
4 Riche's Farewell, Shakespeare Society, p. 204.
6 Love Tricks, l, i.
102
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, J^o. 4.
einem vielfach Goethe zugeschriebenen Aufsatze
Huttens Denkmal erneuert."
Meyer's memory must have played him the
same trick, otherwise he wrote without reflecting
(I. e., p. 294): " v. Loeper erinnert daran, dass
schon in der Flugschrift Von deutscher Art und
Kunst Herder Huttens Denkmal erneuert hatte. ' '
Now, as a matter of fact, Von deutscher Art
und Kunst contains no "monument to Hutten."
Diintzer knew where the article had appeared,
but, "mirabile dictu," did not point out Loeper' s
error, and a wrong date in his own note (DNL.,
xx, 73) makes further search, or knowledge from
some other source, necessary before the original
' ' monument ' ' can be located. The article in
question is entitled "Hutten," and is to be found
in the July number for 1776 of Wieland's Der
Teutsche Merkur.6
If Loeper' s memory had not been faulty, and he
had still desired to show that Herder may have
called Goethe's attention to Hutten' s epistle in
1775, he might have adduced these bits of evi-
dence : In the opening paragraph of the article in
the Merkur the unnamed author, Herder, excuses
himself for appearing in print so late with a
tribute to Hutten which he has had in his mind for
so long a time. It would not be doing violence to
this statement to assume that Herder had the
main features of the article already worked out in
his mind when he saw Goethe and conversed with
him in 1775.6 Further on in the article Herder
recommends especially the reading of Hutten' s
6 On p. ii of the introduction to his translation Wagner
has the following to say about the article : " Dieser Aufsatz
wurde durch die unzeitige Dienstfertigkeit eines Nach-
druckers [Himburg, in Goethens Schriften, 3te Aufl., Berlin,
1779, iv, 51-94] unserm unsterblichen Goethe zugeschrie-
ben, so dass Herder bei einem berichtigten Abdrucke in
den Zerstreuten Blattern [5te Samtnlung, 1793] sein Vater-
recht giiltig machte. Dennoch steht es noch immer unter
Goethes Namen in Schubart [Hutten] und Meiners"
[flatten]. Himburg, however, was by no means the only
person who attributed the article to Goethe. I find, for
example, in a letter from Bodmer to Schinz (Nov. 12,
1776), written between two and three years before the
appearance of Himburg' s pirated edition, the following
sentence: "Ich diirfte wetten, dass Huttens Leben im
Julius des Merkures Gothen zum Verfasser habe."
6 Cf. Herder's letter to Lavater, Oct. 4, 1775, in Aus
Herders flachlass, ii, 141. That Goethe took an interest
in the printed article is evident from Gesprache, x, 12 f.
epistle to Pirkheimer. But it seems hardly neces-
sary to show just how Goethe might have bad his
attention called to Hutten. What would be more
natural than to assume that the author of Gtjti, in
his studies in connection with that drama, should
have been more or less interested in Hutten^ the
friend and confederate of Sickingen.7 It wo.uld
seem strange indeed if, as a student of the period
of the Reformation, he should have failed to djp
into the writings of one of the chief heroes and
patriots of that time.8
Goethe does not say who called his attention to
Hutten, or where he secured the copy of Hutten
which he read.9 No copy of the epistle to Pirk-
heimer is mentioned in the manuscript catalogue
of Goethe's father's library, which may be con-
sulted at the Goethe-House in Weimar. Diintzer
declares flatly that Goethe did not read it when he
says he did, but Diintzer gives no grounds for his
assertion. It is true that there is no evidence be-
yond Goethe's statement above quoted ; there is
no reference to Hutten in Ephemerides, or the
Oespr'dche or Briefe before Weimar. However,
as we are forced to choose between the two con-
flicting arbitrary statements, we may venture to
believe that Goethe knew more about it than
Diintzer.
For our purpose here it makes no difference
whether Goethe read the epistle in 1775 or earlier,
or even after the appearance of Herder's article.
He may have seen fit to substitute a fictitious for
the real date, for "poetical" reasons, as in the
case of The Vicar of Wakefield, though there is no
proof that he did. Many of the ideals set forth in
the epistle correspond to Goethe's own at that
time, and Hutten' s defense of his position at
court, showing the opportunities it aiforded him
to exert an influence where it would count most
toward the uplifting of the people, was in certain
7 1 lay m, Herder, ii, 11: "Ein sehr verzeihlicher Irr-
tum, wenn dieser Aufsatz fiir eine Arbeit von Goethe
gehalten wurde ; er bildet in der Tat in seiner Art ein Sei-
tenstiick zu dem Gotz."
"In the 12th book of D. u. W., in connection with his
account of the Darmstadt circle, Goethe says : "Das Stu-
di inn des fiinfzehnten und sechzehnten Jahrhunderts be-
schiiftigte mich."
9 He says "die Werke Ulrichs von Hutten," but there
was no complete edition at that time, as Herder points out
in his article.
April, 1909. J
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
103
regards a fitting apology for Goethe's early years
at the court of Weimar. This fact was well calcu-
lated to keep the epistle fresh in his memory.
That the document occupied a prominent place in
his thought is evident from what he says after his
quotation from it : " Wenn auch nicht in solchem
Flusse des Zusainmenhangs, so hatte ich doch von
meinen vornehmeren Freunden und Bekannten
dergleichen tuchtige und kriiftige Gesinnungen zu
vernehmen. ... Es war zum Credo geworden,
man miisse sich einen personlichen Adel erwer-
ben." Three paralipomena (1. c., p. 218 f.) be-
long in this connection : ' ' Neu aufgetanes Feld,
wie zur Zeit Ulrichs von Hutten. Seine Maximen
ausgesprochen von Grund der Seele. Stelle aus
Huttens Confessionen. Riicklick auf Ahnherrn. ' '
"Verlangen sich durch eigen Verdienst aus-
zuzeichnen. Klinger.10 Waren die Ausdracke
meiner Freunde und Bekannten auch nicht ge-
rade so derb und kraftig, so waren die Gesin-
nungen gewiss dieselbigen."
" Ich habe oft die Worte Ulrichs von Hutten :
man wolle, man miisse sich einen personlichen
Adel verschaffen, klar und deutlich aussprechen
horen."
If Goethe did not read the epistle in 1775 or
earlier he certainly had every reason for reading
it in 1776. Der Teutsche Merkur for that year
used as frontispieces several pictures of prominent
men of the Reformation. A portrait of Hutten
appeared in the February number. The same
number contained an article on Hutten by Wie-
land. The June number contained a portrait of
Pirkheimer and, under the heading "Nachricht
von Wilibald Pirckhaimer," the following an-
nouncement of Herder's article, which was to
appear in the July number : ' ' Wir wiinschten
aber, und nichts ware billiger, als dass jedem
in einem hohen Grade vortrefBichen deutschen
Mann, dessen Andenken wir im Merkur erneuern
und allgemeiner zu machen suchen, von einem
unsrer Zeitgenossen, der dazu innern Beruf fiihlte,
ein so edles Denkmal gesetzt wiirde, wie dasjenige
ist, das uns vor wenigen Tagen, zum Gedachtnis
Ulrichs von Hutten, von einem der ersten Schrift-
10 "Klinger" in Goethe's own hand on the margin of
the MS., whereas the MS. is in John's hand. Cf. in this
connection Goethe's characterization of Klinger in D. u.
W., xxviii, 253 f.
steller unsers Jahrhunderts zugeschickt worden,
und wir unsern Lesern im nachsten Stuck des
Merkurs mitzuteilen das Vergniigen haben wer-
den." In the July number Herder's article was
followed by a " Zusatz des Herausgebers, ' ' in
which Wieland disclaimed responsibility for the
sentiments expressed in the article, and defended
Erasmus, whom he considered unjustly treated by
Herder. Goethe took Wieland to task for this
and made him promise never to write any more
" postfaces " to other people's articles.11
Granting that Goethe read some of the works
of Hutten about when he said he did, and that
the epistle to Pirkheimer was among them, there
are certain evidences of literary influence which
deserve consideration.
During a recent reading of the quotation in D.
u. W. I was struck by the remarkable similarity
between the kernel of the passage, ' ' Jene Ahnen-
bilder will ich nicht verachten, so wenig als die
wohl ausgestatteten Stammbaume ; aber was auch
deren Wert sei, ist nicht unser eigen, wenn wir ea
nicht durch Verdienste erst eigen machen," and
the oft-quoted lines in Faust (682 f.),
" Was du ererbt von deinen Viitern hast,
Erwirb es, um es zu besitzen."
The idea that what we have inherited is not our
own till by our merit, by our own deserving
efforts, we have made it our own is a striking idea
and one likely to stick fast in the memory of
young Goethe, who had the feeling that he was
unusually favored by fortune and should do some-
thing to merit what he had inherited. So it seems
to me highly probable that his source for these
two lines of Faust, so far as the relation of "er-
werben" to " ererben " is concerned, was the
words of Hutten, "Sed quicquid horum est,
proprium non habemus, nisi nostris quibusdam
meritis illud nobis conciliemus. " In fact, after
a comparison of his whole translation with the
Latin original I cannot help thinking that he
himself had the Faust lines in mind when he
made the translation. I am strengthened in my
belief that he associated the two in his own
thought by the following passage from his diary,
Feb. 25, 1825 : " Fortgesetzte Berichtigung des
"Gespriiche, x, 12 f.
104
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 4
Manuscripts der Chronik. Vorarbeiten am vier-
ten Teil durch ausfiihrlichere Schemata. Ulrich
von Hutten. . . . Fur mich Betrachtungen iiber
das Jahr 1775, besonders Faust. "
It would perhaps be pressing the point too much
to insist upon an immediate connection, in this
diary entry, between the special words of Hutten
and the special lines of Faust. However, in his
articles entitled ' ' Zur Vorgeschichte des Goethe-
schen Faust" (O.-J., iii and iv), Erich Schmidt
long ago pointed out the fact that Hutten was one
of the forerunners of Goethe's Faust, and we may
now refer to this passage in the epistle to Pirkheimer
as revealing one of Hutten' s characteristic features
which was later embodied in the Faust of Goethe.
If my conclusion is correct, "erwerben"
means, in the words of Goethe's translation of
Hutten, "durch eigenes Bestreben, durch Tiich-
tigkeit, durch Verdienste eigen rnacheu." Such
"erwerben" converts mere "Habe" into''Be-
sitz," in the pregnant sense in which the verb
"besitzen " is here used. "Nutzen " in the two
succeeding lines means "durch Tatigkeit be-
nutzen."
Just when Goethe wrote these lines of Faust it
is not possible to say, as they are neither in the
Urfaust, as it has come down to us, nor in the
Fragment of 1790.
That he was accustomed to think of Carl
August in connection with the theory of the
necessity of earning what one has inherited is
evident from such utterances concerning him as
the following :
Letter to Lavater, Oct. 13, 1780: " Herr-
schaft wird niemand angeboren, und der sie
ererbte, muss sie so bitter gewinnen als der Er-
oberer, wenn er sie haben will, und bitterer."
Ilmenau (120ffi): "Bin edles Herz, . . .das
mit sich selbst . . . streitet und, was ihm das
Geschick durch die Geburt geschenkt, mit Muh
und Schweiss erst zu erringen gedenkt."
To Eckermann, Oct. 23, 1828 : "Bin Herzog-
tum geerbt zu haben, war ihm nichts, aber hiitte
er sich eines erringen, erjagen und erstiirmen
konnen, das ware ihm etwas gewesen."
The idea is half expressed in the words of the
Princess in Tasso (113 ff.),
"Auch, kann ich dir versichern, hab' ich nie
Als Kang und als Besitz betrachtet, was
Mir die Natur, was mir das Gliick verlieh."
In Des Epimenides Erwachen the Jugendfiirst
says :
" Ihr habt das Volk, ihr habt euch Belfast begluckt ;
Was ihr besitzt, besitzt ihr erst von heute.
Zwar hat der Ahnen wiirdiges Verdienst
Die goldnen Eeife lilngst geflochten,
Doch nun isl's eigener Gewinnst :
Ihr habt das Eecht daran erfochten."
Another variation of the theme, but in a differ-
ent key, is the satirical parable entitled Neologen :
" Ich begegnet' einem jungen Mann,
Ich fragt' ihn um sein Gewerbe,
Er sagt* : Ich sorge, wie ich kann,
Dass ich mir, eh ich sterbe,
Ein Bauergiitchen erwerbe.
Ich sagte : Das ist sehr wohl gedacht ;
Und wiinschte, er hatt' es so weit gebracht.
Da hort' ich, er habe vom lieben Papa
Und ebenso von der Frau Mama
Die allerschonsten Kittergiiter.
Das nenn' ich doch originate Gemiiter.
In an undated document entitled Aus meinem
Leben, Fragmentarisches, Spatere Zeit ( Werke,
xxxvi, 231), Goethe says of himself: "Ich habe
niemals einen prasumptuoseren Menschen gekannt
als mich selbst. . . . Aber dass ich das iiber
meiue Krafte Ergriffene durchzuarbeiten, das
iiber mein Verdienst Erhaltene zu verdienen
suchte, dadurch unterschied ich mich bloss von
einem wahrhaft Wahnsinnigen."
The original idea contained in Hutten' s epistle
is more or less clearly reflected in all these pas-
sages, and may be considered their source.
To Goethe's various utterances that have been
cited by commentators to illustrate the meaning
of the Faust passage in its various practical appli-
cations I should like to add two showing the
meaning of "erwerben" when applied to things
spiritual :
To Eckermann, Feb. 13, 1831: "Man tut
immer besser, sich ohne Weiteres an das zu hal-
ten, was wirklich da ist, und sich davon anzueig-
nen, was man fur seine sittliche Cultur und Star-
kung gebrauchen kann."
Spruche in Prosa, No. 1 : " Alles Gescheite ist
12 For these parallel passages I am, of course, in-
debted to various Faust commentators, especially Thomas,
Schmidt, and Goebel.
April, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
105
schon gedacht worden ; man muss nur versuchen,
es noch einmal zu denken."
Max Hecker says of this Spruch (Maximen und
Reflexionen, p. 341): "Zielt nicht sowohl auf die
Tatsache, dass ' alles Gescheite schon gedacht
worden,' . . . der Spruch weist vielmehr auf die
Verpflichtung, das geistige Erbgut durch eigenes
Nachdenken zu wirklichem Besitztum zu machen :
' Das alte Wahre, fass es an ! ' ' He might have
ended his note with the fitting quotation,
" Was du ererbt von deinen Viitern hast,
Erwirb es, um es zu besitzen."
Stanford University.
W. A. COOPER.
SOME ITALIAN SATIRIC PREDICATES
OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
The Marciana codex, Ital. ix, 383, no. 7083
(written according to dates of certain headings
later than 1794), contains a curious document
entitled, I Patriarchi di Venezia vestiti in Corn-
media. It consists of sixty proper names denoting
various churches of Venice, severally followed by
the title of a comedy in many cases taken from
Goldoni. Construed with the saint's name pre-
ceding, these titles constitute epithets, aimed as
we shall see not at the saint himself, but at the
presiding piovano of his shrine.1 While doubtless
if the immediate historical setting of this piece
could be restored all the collocations would have a
distinct personal point, some of them may still be
decisively felt as amusing and satiric : "S. Lio —
il vecchio bizzarro ; S. Biasio — 1'amante di se
medesimo ; S. Martin — la donna volubile ; S.
Paolo — un curioso accidente ; S. Giuliano — 1'im-
postore ; S. Pantaleone — il ciarlatano con Bri-
ghella suo Palladino da corda ; S. Luca — 1'avaro,
etc." To the humor implied in the literal mean-
ing of these groups, would of course be added the
1 Besides the analogies cited below, we have conclusive
MS. proof in the title of a second copy of this same satire
in Cod. Cicogna (Museo Civico, Venice) 2232, c. 114,
where also the date is given : Satira sopra li Piovani di
Venezia, anno 1775.
richer associations of the plays for which the titles
stand, and with the leading r&les of which the
assailed pleban would be connected.
This interpretation of the document in question
is established by other productions of similar
nature, collected incidentally in Venice, and from
them, withal, the social function of this type in
the eighteenth century seems to be made clear.
The method of the satire is simply that of epi-
thet. It is as old therefore as epithet itself, * which
has flourished at all times, as notably in the an-
cient epic, and which every age applies in the
consecrated titles of its famous men : Charles, le
chauf ; Philippe, le bel, etc. It is raised to peda-
gogical dignity in the catechistic formulae of ques-
tion and answer, the pithiness and liveliness of
which have on the one hand the advantage of a
good mnemonic system, and on the other that
of general adaptibility to purposes of instructive
amusement: hence our "bird, beast or fish,"
geography, history, biography games. The sat-
ires considered here seem in fact to have been
extensions and combinations of the various aspects
of these pedagogical games,8 which, as evidenced
by the many treatises on social amusements, were
common in the eighteenth century parlors. We
may cite as an example of the epithet games one
entitled, Homeni segnalati e in Vertti, Partico-
lari with a second and third chapter headed
2 The earliest example in my own collection, which was
not extended specially beyond eighteenth century docu-
ments, is in British Museum, Cod. Nero. B. VI, f. 132a :
59 captions, with name, epithet and commenting verse.
This document is probably of the first quarter of the sev-
enteenth century. Bellarmino is described as "una tigre
in catted ra ; Dami la liberta ; vedrai ch'io sono." A
medieval and very famous list of predicates is that
prophecy attributed to St. Malachias (twelfth century) of
the character of the successive popes, by which Leo XIII,
for example, is the ignis ardens ; this list is included
among parlor games in the Mus. Civ. cod. 2232, cited
below (see also Dollinger : Die Papst Fabeln des Miitdal-
ters, trans. Smith, New York, 1872, p. 462).
* The roll-call of the academies, which forms predicate
lists of this nature could easily have been turned to satire :
e. g., the roll of the Oliosi of Verona ( Verona, Bibl. Com.
Busta 1510, c. 150b) reads : "GabrieJe Zinari : L'lmmo-
bile ; Fabricio Morotto : Lo Stabile ; Anello Palomba : il
Pellegrino, etc." Book-binding captions themselves form
just such combinations, L'Avaro — Goldoni. For bombastic
titles requiring an explanatory predicate and adaptable to
satire, see Morsolin, U seicenlo, Milano, 1881, p. 6,
106
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, JVb. 4.
Donne and Populi respectively.1 Among some
seventy-five generalizations the following are
typical : "Pirro — umano, Ezzechiel — verace ; Lu-
cretia — pudica, Didone — costante, Giuditta —
forte"; very frank is this Venetian's estimate of
his foreign friends : ' ' Greci — bugiardi, Saraceni
— crudeli, Francesi — feroci, Britanni— sdegnosi,"
and of course, "Veneziani — giusti." 5 Analogous
in form is an Alfabet, describing the ideal woman,
which appears among other parlor games, conun-
drums, etc., in Cod. 3007-2232 (Mus. Civ.),
c. 163 : a series of adjectives following alphabetic
order, all in the feminine gender, are modified by
appropriate phrases : " buona — con tutti, cara —
ad ognuno, fulgida — negli occhi, ladra — dei cuori,
etc. ' ' This would, of course, work equally well with
genders reversed, and modifiers suitably changed.
It was probably used in the form of question and
answer, the alphabet serving simply to give
method and difficulty to the exchanges, with the
questions and answers apportioned respectively
to the sexes. This explanation is based on the
form of the game immediately preceding in the
same MS., c. 162. Here the questions are put as
such : ' ' Dove siete stato — A Costantinopoli ; Che
avete veduto — Un cavallo ; Che avete mangiato —
un corno " ; the questions "Che v'6 piaciuto"
and ' ' Che avete fatto ' ' have replies more unex-
pected than elegant. This form as well as the
others here considered is still extant,8 and to-day
the answers and questions are written without
reference to each other, the fun arising from the
ridiculous rapprochements that frequently result.
Obviously the step to satire T is an immediate
one, if the questions are deliberately conceived
and answered with that object in view. So in
*Mus. Civ., Cod. 68-1195, c. 9b ; Cod. 634-1081, c.85;
Marciana, Ital. IX, cod. 470, c. 132.
6 Cf. Propriety di diverse nazioni, Sonello, Mar. Coll.,
1083, p. 194 ; Pasqualigo, Ratxolta di Proverbi Veneli,
Venezia, 1858, 11, p. 150 ; PitaS, Prov. Sic., m, chap.
IX, for predicates still current.
6 Cf. Cioffi, Scelti giuochi e passalempi, Milano, 1906, pp.
81-3, Le risposte stravaganti, etc. It is the American game
of Consequences.
7 Examples of game-schemes adapted to satire, but in
verse, are found: Mar. Coll. 1083, c. 106b : II giuoco deU'
ombre sopra i predicator di Padova dell' anno 17S9, Sonelto ;
Mus. Civ. 1086, c. 829 ; ibid., 748 ; 1078, c. 519 ; Mar.
It. IX, cod. 470, c. 122b ; Vicenza, Bertoliana, I, 3, 31,
cc. 181-6.
Mus. Civ. 870-341, cc. 583-4, a Satira sopra
gl' Oratori che perorarono in Venezia la Quadrage-
sima dell' anno 1760 : " S. Lorenzo — il piu pulito ;
S. Lio — il piu innocente ; S. Bastian — ilpiu sporco ;
li Carmini — il piu vergognoso ; S. Nicold— il piu
rustico ; GFIncurabili — ilpiu solo ; S. Trovaso — il
piu santone." This illustrates the same conceal-
ment of the priest's name behind that of the
parish's saint, which appeared in our first citation.8
Such considerateness, it is amusing to note, was
reserved specially for the piovani. In a Registro
delle Parti intiere della R'nda Congregazion di S.
M. Mater Domini I' anno 1778 (Mus. Civ. Correr
Misc. 367, p. 32) the poor Bancali are named
with merciless precision : ' ' Zanetti — II zelante ri-
dicolo delle leggi ; II Zuppati — II Fariseo, o sia il
falso divoto, etc. ; ' ' but Piovani however : " S.
Trovaso — Pan talon impegnato per 1'esaltamento ;
S. Maurizio — Testa sventata o sia il bevitore ; S.
Stae [i. e. Eustachio] — il ciarlatano fatto serio per
scimiottar con affettazione. " The disguise seems
abundantly paid for by the severity of the predi-
cates.
Here too we have the complete extension to
satire, and the introduction of comedy titles.
Naturally the device was used in political and
social satire as well : Mus. Civ. Correr Misc. 369,
p. 77 : Opere recitate in Venezia I' anno 1774 °
spese del JV[obil]. J3"[omo]. Maffeo Albrizzi;
" Consiglier Albrizzi — La distruzion di Sodoma ;
Consiglier Diedo — La Forza dell' Amor proprio ;
Con. Dolce — L'origine dell'officio di M[issie]r.
Grande [i. e., capo bargello] ; Con. Marcello —
II Trionfo della ragione dopo il sacrificio del
fanatismo." Of this there are other examples:
Oazzetta Veneta — delli caratteri dei Gentilhuo-
mini e donne Veneziane : ' ' Madama Fini — Orate
et Vigilate ut non entrate [sic] in tentationem ;
Mada. Bon Bonilij — La fiera di Sinigaglia ; Mad.
Grimani Zen — Lo Spectacolo della Patria ; Mad.
Vidiman — La Buona Moglie, Comedia del Gol-
doni ; Mad. Marceni Badoer — La conversione
di Mada. Tonina la Francese, confortata dall'
(Monr. Riva) Angelo Custode ; Mad. Catte Fi-
nette — La gran Tartana, comedia nuova e ridicu-
losa con (Monsr. Moroppi) Arlechin finto princi-
9 Cf. for the same device, Mar. Coll. 1083, c. 106b :
Venetiii anno predicto [1739]: "S. Polo: Paulus anhelat ;
S. Zaccaria : Zaccarias saltellat, etc."
April, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
107
pe." Some of the same characters are again
favored in a shorter collection immediately follow-
ing : ' ' Feon [?] Coronato — Albrizzi ; L' amor fra-
terno — Marcello ; II curioso ridiculo accidente —
Bembo ; II consiglier distrutto — Foscari ; L'lpo-
crita — Dolce; La Menzogna — Mascherato, etc."
Additional examples of the social-political aspects,
and of non- Venetian inspiration, are the Titoli di
Comedie che Diver si Cavallieri di Roma anno
esibito da Recitarsi Nel Nuovo Teatro di Tor di
Nona (Mus. Civ. cod. 45-1172, cc. 126-30) :
" L' ambasciador di Spagna — H Machiavelli Vir-
tuoso e Prencipe senza difetto, etc. ; Vicenzo
Orighi — L' Orlando Furioso de nfi Tempi ; Ales-
sandro Rondmini — II Rustico Felice, etc." In the
same place are Titoli di Dame di Roma per lo
stesso effetto : " L' ambasciatrice di Spagna — II
Pompeo fatto grande ; La Contestabilessa — Si
prova e non si fa ; Da. Margarita Pio — La Mo-
glie di due Mariti ; Marchesa Patritij — II Marito
delle due Moglie ; Contessa Bolognese — La Ruffi-
ana Corrisposta ; La Alberia — Le Cortesie si di-
spensano a tutti," etc.'
In this paragraph we have one example
(Madama Fini) of a passage of Scripture replac-
ing the title of a play or book. This was sug-
gested possibly by the use of scriptural phrases as
titles, for example in the Psalms and Hymns,
and by the numberless scriptural parodies of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, here applied
in imitation of the intercalari and speech manner-
* A long series of 187 names, entitled Satira degli inter-
venenli del Foro Veneto, begins " Misturo [sic] Antonio —
L'Asino d'oro" (Mus. Civ. 2232, c. 115). British Mu-
seum, 141, a. 17, c. 17b: Trattandosi di rappresentare una
comedia. nel conclave — essendo discorso circa U sogeilo da recilar-
si, alcuni di Corone prapongono li seg' ti: " Bichie : il vecchio
rimbambito ; Nerbi — il girello ; Bonsi — il titolo non si sa,
tie." Brit. Mus. 8815, c. 86 : Vaga libraria di personaggi:
" L'ingannatore ingannato o pure i disegni svaniti — Opera
francese ; La venuta del Messia — Opera di Carlo III ;
Gl'arcani impenetrabili — Opera veneziana ; Lo scherzo
degli dei — Opera del Duca diMantova, etc." An amusing
extension to parodying the "concert" of the powers, a
frequent theme with Pasquino, is found in Mar. Coll.
1083, c. 110 : Musica del teatro del mondo : " Soprano — La
Regina d' Ungheria ; Basso — L'imperadore, etc. ; Bassi
regolati — Gli Inglesi ; Sospiri e mezzi sospiri — La Regina
di Spagna ; La maniera d'ascendere — II Re sardo ; La
maniera di discendere — II duca di Modena ; Mastra di
capella — La Giustizia di Dio ; Spettatori della muiica —
Li veneziani" — as concise a statement as could be wished
of the doctrine of Venetian neutrality in the eighteenth
century.
isms, by which the public speakers were often
known"10 : Mus. Civ. Cod. 963, c. 221a : Nel-
C antecedente soggetto [ Concorrenza pel dogato per
la morte del Mocenigo, 1708~\ : "Andrea Grimani
— Quicquid latet aparebit (c/. dark-horse) ; Marco
Zorzi — Salva me fons pietatis ; Bernardo Dona :
Dona ei requiem, etc." This device was spe-
cially frequent against the cardinals eager for
the pontifical election : n, pp. 593-4. Brit. Mus.
19327, f. 18 : Preces Cardinalium pro eorum
assumptione in pontiftcem cum responsionibus :
" Odescalens — Domine, tota die humiliatus sum et
iustitiam tuam semper meditatus : Responsio : A
solis ortu usque ad occasum exiet species decoris
tui." Again, Brit. Mus., 141, 17, c. 17b: Depre-
cationes eminentissimorum cardinalium : ' ' Lania —
Sancti apostoli, intercedete pro me — comes sum et
comes fidelii [sic] ero, servus servorum dei et gloria
pontificio, etc." " Of similar nature is a sum-
mary of political conditions (Brit. Mus., 3466,
121 : Un centone della corte di Roma~) reflecting
the friendship between England and Venice :
" Inghilterra a Vinitiani : Audivi et gavisus sum,
sed oportet ut vigilem in domo mea ; Vinegia
Catolica — Nos non habemus regem nisi deum."
More intricate cases show introductions of succes-
sive pieces of scripture, as the story of the cruci-
fixion : " Corr. Misc. 367, p. 31 : In occasione del
richiamo del General Querini da Corfu. Passio
D'ni, Z)[omini] S[er] Antoni Querini Provisoris
Generalis maris : ' ' Proveditor generalis — Pater
mi, si non poterit hie calix transire mio [sic],
bibam, etc.; Proveditor d'armata — Si nuiic dimit-
tis, non es amicus Csesaris, etc. ' ' Another on the
election of the Pope to succeed Clement XI (Bibl.
Nat., Paris, F. It. 679, cc. 86-9, Passio Domini
nostri, and also MS. 1490) : Cannini — Regnum
meum non est de hoc mundo, etc. ; Ceva — Ave
rex judeorum ; Brancatus — Nil respondis ad ea
10 Molmenti, op. cit.
"Paris, Bibl. Nat. F. It., 679, cc. 73-77, 81-86, and
Ibid., MS. 1490 contain several interesting series of this
nature, entitled Altre Pasyuinate alii cardinali: "Firen-
zuola — O chi vorrebbe sopportar un frate, Ignorante, su-
perbo e tutta rabbia, etc. ' ' Another has : ' ' Sacchetti — saria
un rinnovar le piaghe a tutti, Iddio guardi di tal cosa
huomini e putti, Cento per cento pigliaria de i frutti."
For others on Venetian politics : Mus. Civ., Cod. 2232, c.
113; 963, c. 221a.
12 The Ave Maria and Paler Nosier for example appear
Bib. Nat. F. It. 679, c. 98a, and in the collection in ibid.
MS. 1490.
108
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 4.
quse tibi obiciuntur, etc." We have an attack on
the Jesuits in Corr. Misc. 368, doc. n, entitled:
Artieolo di Roma inserito nel Giornale di Trevoux
per il mese di Maggio 1772: "Sta davanti al
santo padre il generale de' Gesuiti con mani e
piedi legati e — Sua Santita ha un motto che dice :
Ecce adduco eum vobis foras ut cognoscatia. — II
cardinal Carlo Rezzonico: Vere filius dei erat
iste. II doge di Geneva [Genova] additando il
general esclama : Erat autem latro ; Vescovi vari
— Crucificatur [sic] ; il re di Spagna con assoluta
soavita protesta : Debet mori." Finally, an ex-
tension of the scriptural idea to a ' sacred ' por-
trait gallery on the conditions of Louis XIV s
reign (Brit. Mus. 8815, c. 86) : of the twelve
pictures, ' ' il terzo : San Pietro che piange haver
negate il signore, a ritratto di Clemente XI, in
disgrazia dell' imperadore, col motto : Exivit
foras et flevit amare. — Quinto : Faraone som-
merso, a ritratto di Luigi XIV, re di Francia, in
mezzo alle stragi de suoi eserciti, col motto :
Dextera dei percussit me."
These citations, which a thorough examination
of the vast mass of pasquino literature would aug-
ment almost indefinitely, show simply the extent
to which political thought colored the activities of
the Venetian parlors in the period mentioned.
The categories formed in these series of epithets
have a certain value to the historian as showing
the apparent relations of the characters they
treat, whatever the worth of the actual judgments
themselves as expressions of a contemporary
opinion.13 To the student of literature a careful
classification of the bibliographical data they pre-
serve would throw into relief the vogue of the
titles played upon — a study which we reserve for
a more extensive treatment. As literature, the
type is a mere exercise in cleverness, fairly typi-
fied by an allusion A ire casepatrizie venete ( Corr.
Misc. 367, p. 32) with which we close :
Cornari — assai
Boni — pochi
Zusti — un solo.
A. A. LIVINGSTON.
Smith College.
ls As examples of the attractive use to be made of them,
<f. Malamani, I Franccsi a Venezia, Venezia, 1887, pp. 98,
167, etc.; Molmenti, Star, di Venezia nella Vila Priv.,
Pergamo, 1908, vol. in, pp. 270, 311.
TWO NOTES ON GRILLPARZER.
I.
In the Wiener Neue Freie Presse of January
15th, 1908, Alexander von Weilen publishes six
youthful poems of Grillparzer, that belong to the
year 1806. According to the editor's note, they
constitute a part of those two scrap-books the loss
of which Grillparzer laments in a note to the poem
•An den Mond' (Works, 18, p. 166). O. E.
Lessing ("Schillers Einfluss auf Grillparzer,"
Bulletin of the Univ. of Wise., 1902, Jo-urn, of
Engl. and Germ. Phil., 5, p. 1, and Euphorion,
p. 10, 592 ff. ), has clearly pointed out how much
Grillparzer was indebted throughout his life to
Schiller and especially how closely he followed
him in his first poetic productions. One of these
poems is another interesting evidence of this fact.
The title of this poem is : ' Sehnsucht nach
Liebe.' The poem reads as follows :
SEHNSUCHT NACH LIEBE.
Den 18. Hornung 1806.
Alles liebet, alles scherzet
in der frohlichen Natur ;
alles kiisset, alles herzet
auf den Hoh'n in Wald und Flur I
Laszt der holde Lenz sich nieder,
sanft umschwarmt vom lauen West,
senkt der Vogel sein Gefieder,
bauet liebend sich ein Nest.
Und der Lowe flieht das Morden,
das sonst hochste Lust ihm schafft ;
er verliiszt der Briider Horden,
huldigt Amor's Zauberkraft.
Und dir soil ich mich entziehen,
die uns menschlich fiihlen lehrt?
Liebe ! ach dich soil ich fliehen,
die der Tiger selbst verehrt ?
Ich allein nur soil dich meiden,
holde Spenderin der Lust ?
ich soil wilde Thiere neiden
urn das Fiihlen ihrer Brust?
Nein ! dem schonsten aller Triebe
Bey mem fuhlend Herz geweiht 1
schenke mir Themirens Liebe,
Amor, Gott der Ziirtlichkeit.
When reading this youthful outburst of passion,
one is strangely reminded of Schiller' s ' Klage
der Ceres' and 'Das Eleusische Fest,' in some
April, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
109
places also of ' Die Glocke. ' ' Der holde Lenz, '
' der Loewe flieht das Morden, ' ' er verlaszt der
Briider Horden, ' ' holde Spenderin der Lust, '
'Themirens Liebe,' 'Amor, Gott der Zartlich-
keit,' and similar expressions are easily recog-
nized as parts of Schiller's vocabulary, or at least
as formed very much after phrases frequently
nsed by him. A similar poetic structure is
very common in Schiller. Taking two strophes
together, the form of versification is very much
like that in Schiller's ' Das Eleusische Fest ' ; it
may be called a modified form of the Ottave or
Stanza. The line of the strophe, as it appears in
Grillparzer's poem, is exactly the same as that
in Schiller's. It is a complete trochaic line of
four feet, changing with a truncated trochaic line.
The system of rhyming also agrees with that of
' Die Klage der Ceres ' ; in each poem we have
four pairs of cross-rhymes. Beside these resem-
blances, similarities in the contents of the two
poems may be pointed out. Each begins with a
description of nature in its spring tide glory ; this
theme is followed by another : Ceres bemoans the
loss of her daughter, the poet meditates about his
relation and his attitude to love ; and at last both
end with the resolution to attempt to gain what
each has lost or missed heretofore. Of course, all
these themes are more powerfully and more ex-
tensively treated in Schiller's longer poem.
That, however, a young, inexperienced poet
should in such a way seek support and help for
his first poetic endeavors, need not necessarily be
considered plagiarism. Grillparzer himself asserts
that in the days when he wrote Blanclca von
Kastilien Schiller was his idol and model, and
that this feeling told him he was on the way to
overtake him. As stated in the beginning, the
relation of this little poem to Schiller's work is
merely an additional proof, how much he depended
upon the great Swabiau in his first poetic experi-
ments.
II.
In his autobiography ( Works, 19, p. 55), Grill-
parzer speaks about a serious illness with which
he became afflicted on a certain Sunday during
the summer of 1813.
According to his own report, ( Works, vol. 19,
p. 57) this illness must have been a critical and
lingering one. During his recovery the war of
liberation was reaching the stages of its climax
at Leipzig. His return journey from the country
place, where he had been lying ill, to Vienna suf-
fered some delay at a mail-coach station, because
the people were busy with a jollification over
the first news of the victory at Leipzig. This
little note in his autobiography causes some dif-
ficulty, when one attempts to bring the statement
in harmony with facts and dates from other
sources. On the llth of October, he wrote to his
mother (Brief e, ed. by Glossy and Saner, p. 11):
I have been feeling well lately ; I have not even
had a headache since I have been here (i. e.,
at Lukow, the estate where he was engaged as a
tutor). Two weeks before this letter, he closed
another one, also to his mother (ibid., p. 10),
with the remark : ' I am feeling very well. ' If
he did not intend to deceive his mother, we must,
therefore, assume that he was really not taken ill
before the llth of October. Yet, when writing his
autobiography in 1853, he recollected that he felt
the first symptoms of his illness on a Sunday, after
having driven to church through a severe rain
storm. The first Sunday, however, after this last
letter to his mother on the llth was the 17th of
October, the second day of the battle at Leipzig.
The question, then, arises : how could the poet be
taken ill on that day and yet hear of the great
victory only after several weeks of illness ? It
has been suggested that, writing so many years
after the event, his memory must have failed
him. But this explanation seems to make the
interpretation of the dates only more difficult.
The poet's illness may well have lasted three or
even four weeks, and his return to Vienna may
have taken place in the early part of November.
That the news of the glorious victory should
have reached some parts of Austria as late as
these November days, need not be surprising.
The poet started from the Hungarian boundary
( Works, 19, p. 56) and the delay referred to in
his biography may have occurred in the first
stages of the journey. The conditions of the mail
and of traffic in general were such at that time,
that even so important news as that of the glorious
victory may have made its way rather slowly to
the more remote parts of the country.
A. BUSSE.
Ohio Slate University.
110
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 4.
NEW STANZAS BY DUNBAR.
Perhaps the least attractive side of the poetic
talent of William Dunbar is his fondness for
"fresch ennamallet termes celestiall." When the
poet with angelic mouth, aureate lips, and sugared
tongue overgilt his rude Scots with mellifluate
terms, his modern readers hasten to turn the page.
It is therefore with mixed feelings that I call
attention to some unknown stanzas of his, which
are full of rhetoric's lusty roses redolent. They
occur in a book probably written in the hand of
William Forrest, priest and poet, not earlier than
1581, since this date occurs in the early part of
the book. Mr. Cooper's article in the Dictionary
of National Biography tells all that is essential of
Forrest. He was a bitter controversialist, and it
was in a spirit of rancour, not uncalled for, that
he set down, in Elizabeth' sunregenerate days, his
poem in defence of the Virgin Mary and the Im-
maculate Conception, which begins Harley MS.
1703. Having completed it, he went on, to de-
fend and to praise the blessed Virgin, in short
poems containing examples to beware or praises
to be sung. On folios 79 verso and 80 recto, he
copied down eight stanzas of Dunbar' s poem
called Ane Ballat of Our Lady (No. 86 in Schip-
per's text, 85 in the cancelled Baildon print).
Intoxicated with the melody of the Scottish poet's
verse, Forrest added to the poem ten more stanzas
of his own. The first of them, immediately fol-
lowing the "finis" which marks the close of
Dunbar' s verse, is as follows : —
" This salutation, much eloquentlye
A devoute Scotte, of loue most entire,
longe time sithen, dyd yt edyfye
And thorowe like spirite, which can me Inspire,
Of like devotion, so well as I maye,
I shall continue, In this poore quyre,
To saye with the scotte, Salue Maria."
His saying is very far below Dunbar' s, and need
not be printed in this note, which treats of Dun-
bar only. It is sufficient to say, that it is evident
that his poetic power could not have written any
of the stanzas he attributes to the Scot.
Of this version of Ane Ballat, stanzas 4, 5, 7
and 8 are only in this MS. and have never been
printed. Granted that Forrest's text, written as
late as 1581, is likely to be corrupt, — though the
collation shows it fairly good — there is nothing in
these stanzas to distinguish them from the others,
as by a different hand. I note the word ' ' endyte, ' '
1. 55, a rare word, as in Dunbar' s Golden Targe,
in the famous Chaucer-stanza.
A succession of editors (Laing, Small, Schip-
per, Baildon), have pronounced the poem to be
Dunbar' s on internal evidence, there being no ex-
ternal evidence of any kind. The style is cer-
tainly in accord with Dunbar when in an " illu-
minated ' ' mood, and we may leave the ascription
to stand.
Few Scottish poems of this date appear in Eng-
lish dress, and every bit of evidence on this point
is worth while.
The poem follows, from the Forrest text. I
give the text as it stands there. The refrain is
written by the scribe in a larger hand.
[B. M. Harley 1703, fols. 79b-80a.]
1.
Kose Marye moste of vertue vyrgynall,
Fresche flowre on whome the heavenly dewe downe
fell;
Oh, Gemme, Joyned with Joye Angelycall !
In whome Jesus reioycd for to dwell,
5 Boote of truyt,1 of mercy springinge well,
Of ladyes cheeif 2 as is of letters A,
Empresse of heavin,3 Paradyse, and hell,
Oh Mater lesu salue Maria !
2.
4O cleare conclave of cleane Vyrgynyte !
10 That closed Christe, witAoute 4 Crymes crymynall,
Tryumphant Temple of the Trynyte,
That turned vs from terrour 5 eternall.
Hayle ! 6 Pryncesse of peace and Palme Imperyall,
Illustrat lyllye, to thee ladye. I saye,
15 Withe Infynyte Aueis, hayle ! Floure of women all.'
Oh Mater Jesu salue Maria !
3.
O sterre, that blyndethe Phebus beamya bright,
Withe cowrse above the heavin chrystallyne,
Above the spheeare of Saturne, highe on hight,
20 Surmount! nge the Orders of Angels8 nyne ;
Oh 9 lampe I leamynge before the Throne dyvyne,
Wheare Cherubin sweete singethe hosanna,
With Organe, Tympane, Harpe, and Cymbalyne,
Oh Mater Jesu, salue Maria 1
4.
25 Hayle lo Davydes Doughter, depured Ave,
Fulfylled withe all plenytude of grace ;
April, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
Ill
Suche salutation, Dwe vnto thee,
And to none other in suche soveraigne case,
The Prynce, cheeif of All in thee to take place,
30 Boarne ere begynnyng, in moste merveylous waye,
And boarne heere of thee, after nyne months space,
Oh Mater Jtsu, salue Maria !
5.
Hayle, Indystinguyble sterre celestiall !
Illumynous Ladye, in lune Lucyferat ;
35 Of gloryous Jesus, kinge Imperial!,
Hayle ! Genitrix, of Jesse germynat.
Of Adonay liayle Annule illibat.
Buche in combuste of Moses, brennyng aye,
Trynaunte tryumphante, Rose intemerat,
40 Oh, Mater Jesu, salue Maria !
6.
Hayle ! puryfyed Pearle, hayle ! Porte of Paradyse,
Hayle ! redolent Bubye, bothe Riche and radyous,
Hayle ! claryfyed chrystall, hayle ! Queene, haile I "
Empryse,
Hayle ! mother of God, hayle ! Vyrgin gloryous,
45 Hayle 1 1J gratia plena, tecum Dominus,
Hayle ! Gabryelle greeatinge withe "Aue Gratia,1*
Benedicta tu in Mulieribus,"
Oh Mater Jesu,, salue Maria !
7.
Hayle ! Patryarkes Pleye, hayle ! Potestates plesaunce,
50 Hayle ! Vyrgyns Queene, hayle ! Apostles Princesse
white,
Hayle ! Martyrs Myrthe, hayle ! Angels observaunce,
Hayle! Fyndys Foe, hayle! Goddes owne cheeif
Delyte ;
Hayle ! Christys Love, hayle ! Lucyfers despyte,
Hayle ! spiritu sancto obumbrata,
55 Hayle ! Confessors Queen, hayle ! Patryarkes cleare
endyte,
Oh Mater Jem, salue Maria !
8.
When Deathe shall crusche mee in his Armes stronge,
And vyolant peyne shall reave me my naturall sight,
And thynfernall dragon, wolde hale me his emonge,
60 Into that storme, O sterre ! caste vppe thye light,
And me recomforte, withe thye Beamys bright ;
The fearfull sight of dyvlles, dearre ladye, dryve awaye,
Kescue thye Servaunte, sweet Mayde, witA all thye
myght,
Oh Mater Jesu, salue Maria 1
finis.
I append the stanzas in Schipper's text, not
copied in Forrest's version :
IV.
25 Thy blyssit sydis bure the campioun
The quhille, with mony bludy woundis, in stour,
Victoriusly discomfert the dragoun
That redy was his pepill to devour ;
At hellis zettis he gaf thame na succour,
30 He brak the barmekyn of that bribour bla,
Quhill all the feyndis trymbillit for reddour,
O mater Ihesu, salue Maria !
v.
O madyne meik, most mediatrix for man,
And moder myld, full of humilite !
35 Pray thi sone Ihesu, with his woundis wan,
Quhilk deinzeit him for our trespass to de,
And as he bled his blude upon a tre,
Vs to defend fra Lucifer our fa,
In hevyne that we may syng apon our kne,
O mater Ihesu, salue Maria !
Collations with Schipper's text, K. Akad. d. Wissen-
schaften, Phil. -Hist. Kl., Bd., XLII, IV Abh., pp. 70-72,
( I do not attempt to give the variations in spelling, since
the texts are in different languages. ) MSS. Asloane MS.,
fol. 301a-301b = A ; Makulloch MS., fol. 186b, till 1. 40
= M. 1. Fruyt] refute MA. 2 chose A schois M, 3 of MA.
stanzas 2-3 tr. MA. 4 but crymes M. but cures A. 5 tar-
ter AM. 6 om. AM. 11. 14-15 read, Our wicht invinsable
Sampson sprang the fra That with ane buffat bair doune
Beliale AM. 8 all the anzell ordoris. 9 Haile. 10 stan-
zas 4-5-7-8 om. AM. stanzas 4-5 of A. M. not in Forrest's
text ; see above. 11 and A. 12 O. 13 in A " With
Gabriell that we may syng and say."
HENKY NOBLE MACCBACKEN.
Yale University.
SOME REFERENCES TO GERMAN LIT-
ERATURE IN ENGLISH MAGAZINES
OF THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY.
Recent investigations have established the fact
that the revival of English interest in German
letters did not set in until the second half of the
eighteenth century. Gessner's Death of Abel,
translated by Mrs. Collyer in 1763, was the first
German work to produce a perceptible influence
upon the English mind. To be sure two trans-
lations had appeared before this date : Gellert's
History of the Swedish Countess of O — , in 1752,
and Rabener's Satirical Letters, in 1757. These
works were however indifferently received by re-
viewers and were productive of no immediate re-
sults for the popularity of German literature in
England.
112
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No, 4.
Although perfectly aware that a perusal of the
magazines J and periodicals of the early eighteenth
century would bring to light no further trans-
lations than those cited above, the writer under-
took the task in the hope of discovering some
indication that Englishmen were at least cognizant
of the recent transformation in German literary
ideals. It seems, for example, almost incredible
that no rumor of the Gottsched-Bodmer contro-
versy, which resulted in a decisive victory for
English models over the French, should have
pierced the seeming dulness of British ears, or
that Brockes' imitation of Thomson's Seasons in
Irdisches Vergnugen in Gott, which marked a new
epoch in German nature poetry and was warmly
acclaimed in Germany, should not have been at
least reviewed in one of the many English period-
icals, which pretended to furnish their readers with
an accurate account of the events in the literary
world both at home and abroad. Of course the
general tone of these magazines was determined by
the fact that they were fashioned after the French
Journal des Savants, which did not concern itself
with German literature. In fact, the Memoirs of
Literature, 1710-14, second series, 1725-28, was
conducted by Michel de la Roche, a French
refugee, and the Republic of Letters, 1728-36,
edited by Andrew Reid, was but a continuation
of De la Roche' s beginnings.
Following the body articles in these journals
was a department devoted to the consideration of
new books published in the various literary marts
of Europe, and it is here that one would expect to
find some mention of the then invaluable products _
of German genius. A cursory examination of a
single volume of any one of these magazines is suffi-
cient to show that the word literature was em-
ployed in a much more comprehensive sense than
in these days of limitation and sharp definition.
It did not signify the untechnical and imaginative
expression of thought, but was broad enough to
include all written expression of the varied activi-
ties of the human mind. Works of philosophy,
theology, medicine, botany and science in all its
1 The magazines consulted for this article are : Memoirs
of Literature, 1710-14, second series, 1725-28 ; Republic
of Letters, 1728-36 ; Hisloria Lileraria, 1730-34 ; See,
1733-34; Literary Magazine, 1735-36 ; Works of the Learned,
1737-43 ; Literary Journal, 1744-49.
branches were principally reviewed and literature,
as such, came off rather poorly in this medley.
And yet enough account was taken of purely
literary production to warrant the expectation that
some German books would be mentioned.
It is with regret that I am obliged to state that
this expectation was not abundantly fulfilled. Not
that Germany does not come in for its share of
attention, for the magazines are replete with notices
and reviews of books published in Germany, but
they are, in accordance with the general character
of the magazines, chiefly philosophical, theolog-
ical, legal and scientific, and for the most part
written in Latin. The names Leibnitz, Wolfius,
Fabricius, Heister, Thomasius and Puffendorf are
of frequent occurrence, and one cannot fail to per-
ceive that th& achievments of these learned men
were fully appreciated in England, and served to
remove any prejudice which may have hitherto
obtained against Germany and her scholars, thus
paving the way for a friendly reception of German
literature, when the psychological moment should
arrive.
Before enumerating the scattering references to
German literature in these magazines, it is neces-
sary to state that their appearance there did not
result from any widespread familiarity with or
appreciation of German literature, but was purely
haphazard and accidental in character. And yet
we may consider them worthy of mention as fore*
runners and suggestive of a greater interest which
was soon to follow. That German scholars were
themselves moved to remonstrate against the in-
difference of these magazines to German production
may be seen in a letter written from Leipzig by
one S. D. to the editor of the Republic of Letters
and published in July, 1731. This correspondent
expresses surprise that so few German translations
had appeared in the English tongue and especially
that so little mention had been made of German
production in that journal. It is unfortunate that
he did not later carry out the intention expressed
here of removing this ill-grounded prejudice by
presenting a list of prominent German authors.
For the present he is contented with recommend-
ing and reviewing two historical works which, as
he hopes, will serve as an indication that Germany
had at least made wonderful progress in the field
of historical research. The two treatises are Von
April, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
113
Buenau's Complete History of the German Empire
and Emperors, and J. J. Mascov's German His-
tory as far as the Foundation of the Franconian
Monarchy. In passing, it is perhaps worth noting
that these books were also reviewed in the See for
February, 1733.
A letter very similar in tone to the one above
was written by the Leipzig correspondent of the
Bee in 1733. He lauds the rise and progress of
the Deutsche Gesellschaft of that city and promises
for the ensuing Bees translations from the works
of the members of the society, in order to show
that the German nation was awakening from the
lethargy and inertia into which it had fallen and
would soon show the world that it was concerned
for the welfare of its native language and polite
learning in general. These promised translations
were never published, and it is not unlikely that
they were lost sight of in the mass of controversial
literature which about this time swamped the edi-
torial office of the Bee.
A second letter to the Bee, this time from Ham-
burg and published in August, 1733, apprises the
editor of the founding in that city of the Gesell-
schaft vom guten Geschmack. The writer promises
to send copies of the society's organ, "as soon as
any of its flowers should be in blossom." Mention
is made of two literary journals in Hamburg on
English models, the one edited by Prof. Kohl, the
other by a Mr. Leussner.
Although these letters were productive of no
editorial comment, it would seem that a review of
Brockes' Irdisches Vergnugen in Gott, in the Re-
public of Letters for November, 1731, were an
answer to the faint plea in behalf of German
literature in the first letter cited above, were it
not that this work of Brockes is, so far as I have
observed, the only German production of merit,
purely literary in character, reviewed in these
early eighteenth century magazines. The re-
viewer calls attention to the praise which this
work had earned in Germany, and describes
Brockes as "one of those sublime Geniuses, who
may justly be compared to the Phoenix." In
order to give English readers a more adequate
idea of his qualities, he styles him "the German
Addison," without any justification, unless it be
that Brockes' connection with the Patriot, a jour-
nal founded on the model of the Spectator entitles
him to this distinction. There follows an account
of Brockes' life, in which special emphasis is laid
upon the multiplicity of business he disposes of.
His translation of Marini's Murder of the Innocents
is singled out as showing what the hitherto despised
German language is capable of, and hope is ex-
pressed that he will carry out his intention of
translating Milton. That Brockes' attention was
called to this English criticism of his work is indi-
cated by the following statement in his auto-
biography under the caption Anno 1732, "Ich
erhielt aus England cine besondere Nachricht von
der Achtung meiner Schriften."
A third curious reference to German literature
in the Republic of Letters appeared in February
of the year 1729. It is an extract from a Ham-
burg paper and is reprinted from an English daily
paper. It is quoted as proof of the high esteem
and reputation which English authors and the
English language enjoy abroad. The article calls
attention to the general excellence of English
poetry and Milton is ranked superior to Homer
and Vergil, "which do not teem with so many
real beauties and soaring thoughts as are to be
found in the inimitable English epic." The writer
discusses the influence of English pamphlets and
daily papers in stirring up emulation in the neigh-
boring countries, and as tangible evidence of this
influence in Germany mentions the Patriot pub-
lished by a Mr. Weichmann of Hamburg. This
journal was the organ of the Patriotische Gesell-
schaft, founded by Brockes in 1716, for the pur-
pose of freeing the German language from the
bombast and sentimentality of the second Silesian
school. It is stated that the Patriot had gained
such a reputation in Germany that it may well be
reckoned an instance that "Great masters may
sometimes raise disciples to equal themselves."
The Weichmann mentioned here is Christian
Friedrich Weichrnann, Brockes' friend and col-
laborator, who published, 1721-38, the poetic
lucubrations of the Deutschubende Gesellschaft in
the collection Poesien der Niedersachsen.
In this connection should be noted an advice
from Hamburg to the Bee of August, 1733, to the
effect that half a sheet was being published there
twice a week under the title Extracts from the
English Bee. The editor of the Bee thinks that
he has reason to believe that these extracts were
being translated by the same gentleman who had
some years since translated the Spectator into Ger-
man with such success that from nine to ten thou-
sand copies were printed every week. He ex-
114
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 4.
presses the hope that "if some unwarranted legal
proceedings does not clip the wings of the Bee, it
will likewise soon be flying all over Germany."
The remaining references to German literature
in these magazines are even more scattering and
disconnected than the ones considered above. We
read, for instance, in the Republic of Letters for
June, 1728, that Benjamin Neukirch, the Ansbach
court poet, had translated Fenelon's Telemachus
into High-German verse. The Works of the
Learned for October, 1742, prints an article from
Derfurt (sic) recounting the melancholy circum-
stances attendant upon the death of Madame
Sidouie Hedwig Zaunemann, a poetess of the
Gottsched school, who was drowned at Ilmenau
while crossing the Ilm swollen with rains. Con-
siderable space is devoted to her life and char-
acter and much is made of the fact that in 1739
the university of Gottingen invested her with the
poetess' crown, upon which occasion ' ' the laurel
was placed on her head by Count Reuss, who in-
sisted on performing this part of the ceremony."
The Literary Journal of Dublin for September,
1746, notes the publication in Frankfurt of the
poetical works of Mrs. Rieger, "a lady much
celebrated by the Connaiseurs in that science."
From the preface of this edition is extracted a list
of some twenty living muses of Germany, for the
most part, imitators and emulators of Gottsched
and his wife. Mrs. Gottsched in particular is
mentioned as a poetess "to whom are paid the
highest compliments."
However slight in value my gleanings in this
sterile field may be, they at least prove conclu-
sively that any untimely effort to arouse a pre-
mature and unnatural interest in German litera-
ture was bound to fail. At this time literary
currents were flowing in the opposite direction.
The influence was English-German and not Ger-
man-English. Germany could not expect to play
a prominent role in European literature until it
had passed through the period of mere imitation
and created something which was at once both
distinctively German and a "document humain."
The accomplishment of this task was reserved for
the all-embracing and universal genius of Goethe,
whose Werther, translated in 1779, opened the
flood-gates and released a stream of translation
which fertilized England's barren literary soil
during half a century.
GEORGE M. BAKER.
Yale University.
JOHN DONNE'S VERSE.
The Rhetoric of John Donne's Verse. By WIGHT-
MAN FLETCHER MELTON. Johns Hopkins
University Dissertation. Baltimore : J. H.
FurstCo., 1906.
In his scholarly study of Donne's poetic theory
Dr. Melton has made a rare and substantial con-
tribution to the science of English verse. In
marked contrast with prose criticism and rhetoric,
this field of investigation has received scant tillage
at least in this country, Of course we are not
unmindful of the splendid researches of such pio-
neers as Lanier, Price, Child, Corson, and Bright,
but their names can be exhausted on one's two
hands. Such recent explorations into this un-
mapped realm as have been undertaken by Pro-
fessors Alden, Gummere, Brumbaugh, Belden,
Brown, Miller, and others, are of peculiar inter-
est and value, and have put all students of Eng-
lish poetics richly in their debt.
Dr. Melton has had the hardihood to attack the
very citadel of the enemy. Those who are at all
familiar with Donne's poetical writings can appre-
ciate the baffling nature of the problem which he
has undertaken to solve, for Donne's peculiar
metrical system has always been a puzzle to his
readers. Even his enthusiastic admirer, Ben
Jonson, who esteemed him ' ' the first poet in the
world in some things," declared impatiently that
" Donne deserved hanging for not keeping of
accent." Hazlitt spoke of his verses as " riddles
that the sphinx could not unravel," and Pope
even assumed the duty of "translating " Donne's
satires into " modern verse." Mr. Edmund Gosse
concluded that " he intentionally essayed to intro-
duce a revolution in English versification." A
score of critics, weary with guessing at the secret
of his art, have finally consigned him to a limbo
of beautiful but paradoxical originality. Coleridge
alone was enabled through his instinctive taste
and critical infallibility to attain to a fuller ap-
preciation of Donne' s wonderful technique, yet he
saw but darkly through the veil of the mystery.
More recent students, such as Professors Norton,
Craik, Saintsbury, and Wendell, while acknowl-
edging Donne's marvellous gift of terse expres-
sion, the vigor of his imagination, the sweetness
of his sentiment, his subtle wit, and majestic
learning, have nevertheless felt constrained, with
April, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
115
tender reluctance, to convict Donne of the poetical
sins of ruggedness, obscurity, and uncouthness, of
fantastical conceits and studied pedantry. They
seem, indeed, to have been forced into the di-
lemma of admitting either that he had no correct
ear or was perversely regardless of harmony.
It was while engaged, as a Fellow of Johns
Hopkins University in the task of applying to
Donne the theory of secondary word-accent, first
advanced and fully formulated by Professor
Bright, that Dr. Melton discovered the closely
hidden secrets of his verse. "The revelation,"
he says, ' ' came to me suddenly after three years
of daily, almost hourly, entreating, caressing, and
wheedling of each line of his poetry." He pro-
ceeded to test his subject by Professor Bright' s
' ' doctrines, ' ' or three ways in which poetry can
be read. Having eliminated the "sense-doc-
trine," which disregards rhythm for sense, and
the "ictus-doctrine," which ignores sense for
rhythm, he found that the third, the "pitch or
rhythm-doctrine," furnished the desired clew.
Observing that ' ' duration is substituted for pitch
as the characteristic element in the rhythmic
quality of secondary-accent syllables when under
the ictus," the author found that "the word in
thesis receives a word-accent that is subordinated
to the ictus," and so preserves and enriches the
rhythm. This prevents the flow of the sentence
or the pattern of the verse from obscuring the
meaning. Scarcely audible articles and preposi-
tions, unaccented and derivative syllables are thus
sometimes stressed to meet the exigencies of both
meaning and rhythm.
In the first problem attacked by Dr. Melton, he
was completely successful in explaining the em-
phasis elicited by verse-stress in Donne, when it is
at variance with the usual or prose emphasis. He
thus found in the poet a final and clinching argu-
ment for the Bright theory. Pursuing his laby-
rinth still further, he was led to an examination
of a practically untouched aspect of English versi-
fication, viz., the appearance of the same word
now in arsis and now in thesis as an additional
factor in the music of the line. This arsis-thesis
variation of sounds in the same line or in close
proximity, proved to be the long-sought key to
Donne's verse-riddle. The following couplet af-
fords an illustration :
" She, she is dead ; she's dead ; when thou know'st thia
Thou know'st how wan a ghost this our world is."
The mystery was gone, the puzzle was solved ;
this was the hidden characteristic of the old poet's
verse which had been so long regarded as inex-
plicable.
So far then from being careless in versifying,
Donne, we now know went beyond all other poets
in the care with which he wove the intricate
meshes of his poetic web. He rimed not merely
at the end or in the middle of the lines, but every-
where, and exhausted all the possibilities of asso-
nance, alliteration, and antithesis. His rule of
composition is thus formulated by the author :
"When a word, syllable, or sound, appears in
arsis, get it into thesis as quickly as possible, and
vice versa • having twisted, pressed, and screwed
(Coleridge uses all three of these words in his
quatrain) all the meaning out of that word, take
up another and carry it through the same process.
Better still, instead of pressing one word at a time,
whenever convenient take a whole handful of words
and twist them so that men will not find out for
centuries what it all means."
One of the most interesting uses to which Dr.
Melton puts his discovery is to test the authen-
ticity of a number of doubtful and spurious poems
attributed to Donne. He includes, for example,
in the canon of Donne's verse Love's War, Bor-
rowing, and Love's Wit, but excludes A Warning,
Believe Your Glass, The Lie, To My Lord Pem-
broke, On a Flea in His Mistress's Bosom, and
Dr. Donne's Farewell to the World. In numerous
passages, also, he is enabled by his ' ' rule ' ' to
supply a missing, or to recognize a superfluous
word, to select the correct variant, and to scan
such puzzling lines as those To Sir Edward Her-
bert :
"Thus man, that might be His pleasure is His
And is His devil that might be his God."
Applying the touchstone to the couplet which
Mr. Gosse cites as lines that "may excusably
defy a novice ' ' —
" And as fidlers stop lowest, at highest sound,
So to the most brave, stoops he nighest the ground," —
he emends the reading so far as to supply one
missing word and eliminates two which have been
added mistakenly with a view to smoother scan-
116
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 4.
sion, and thus arrives at a much more satisfactory
reading :
" As fidlers stoop the lowest at highest sound,
To the most brave, stoops he nighest the ground."
Dr. Melton's work will also, no doubt, open the
way to a thorough investigation of the sources of
Donne's metrical peculiarities, and to the deter-
mination of the relative authenticity of the Donne
manuscripts still extant, and thus lead to a defin-
itive edition of his works.
GEORGE ARMSTRONG WAUCHOPE.
University of South Carolina.
FRENCH LITERATURE.
MAURICE SOURIAU : Moralities etpoetes. Paris:
Vuibert et Nony, 1907.
A few years ago the French Academy crowned
an important work on Bernardin de Saint-Pierre,
which greatly modifies the accepted opinion con-
cerning that author. The book entitled: Ber-
nardin de Saint-Pierre d'apres ses Manuscrits was
published by M. Souriau, after several years of
careful study of the manuscripts preserved at the
Municipal Library of Le Havre. Previous to this
M. Souriau published among other works an edi-
tion of the Preface de Cromwell, which was also
crowned by the Academy ; two important works
on French Versification, namely, La Versification
de Moliere and L' Evolution du Vers Francais;
and a volume on Pascal in the Collection des
Classiques Populaires.
Recently M. Souriau, who is an indefatigable
worker and a frequent contributor to several
French literary reviews, has collected some of his
more important articles and published them in a
volume of some three hundred pages under the
title : Moralistes et Poetes.
The range of subjects, all dealing with French
literature, indicates the variety of M. Souriau's
interests in his special field. He proposes a new
interpretation of the Pensees of Pascal ; discusses
Lamartine's versification ; rehabilitates in a way
Casimir Delavigne ; treats R6ne" Bazin as writer
of the "Roman Social " ; and finally outlines the
poetic movement in Normandy to-day. The arti-
cles are of varying interest and importance, but
not one is negligeable— far from it. Of the shorter
ones not already mentioned may be noted Les Ca-
hiers d'ecolier de Brizeux giving the results of an
examination of that poet's note-books, which by
good fortune came into M. Souriau's hands. As
Brizeux himself says, "1'enfant renferme le vieil-
lard," and these books disclose the beginnings of
the poet's love for Ovid and particularly for Vir-
gil, whose melancholy tenderness lives again in
him and makes him rank "bon second apres
Chenierdans le genre de 1'idylle." Incidentally
we get a glimpse of school life in France in the
first decade of the nineteenth century. Not less
interesting is the very slight glimpse of school girl
life which we get in the short article on Bernardin
de Saint-Pierre's favorite daughter, Virginie,
whose "silhouette de jeune fille, grace aux manu-
scrits de la bibliotheque du Havre, se revele a
nous comme un pastel un peu pali par le temps."
Le Romantisme juge par Alfred de Vigny is a
study of the remains of the poet's correspondence
with the Crown Prince of Bavaria, afterwards
Maximilian II.1 This correspondence was never
edited. M. Souriau supposed that something of
it might still be found in the Secret Archives of
the Royal Family at Munich. A search there
brought to light several interesting fragments.1
The Prince's first letter contains an appreciation
of Cinq Mars and Stello, both of which deeply
impressed the young man. De Vigny' s reply has
been characterised by Faguet as "une lecon sur
toute la litterature franjaise de 1800 a 1839."
It is interesting to note, in this connection, that
at this time, and perhaps on account of this cor-
respondence, de Vigny thought of writing a treatise
on "1'homme d'6tat."
In his letter de Vigny mentions Lamartine's
" trop facile improvisation." Lamartine himself
rejoiced so to speak in the title " amateur. "'
Already in the lettre-preface to the Recueillements
Poetiques (Dec. 1, 1838) he discloses his methods
Journal fun Poete, 7 dec., 1837. M. Souriau prints
the Prince's letter. For De Vigny' s reply vd. Carre-
Kpondance, p. 83 (Calmann-LeVy).
2 All published by M. Souriau in La Revue de Parti, ler
mai, 1898.
^Preface des Meditations, 1849.
April, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
11?
of work, protests his incapacity for self-criticism
and his impatience of " limce labor": all this to
forestall and disarm criticism, for which he ex-
pressed a rather slight regard in his Epitre & M.
A. Dumas (Sept. 18, 1838). In 1836 Sainte-
Beuve, writing on Jocelyn, called the poet to task
for his faults and hoped that the blemishes would
not appear in a later edition. Two years after,
the same critic in an article on Les Recueillements
Poetiques, lamented the unpardonable negligence
which the poet regarded so lightly. The critic,
much chagrined and not a little disconcerted at
this persistent careless attitude, insisted on the
seriousness of art which demands our best eifort
quite as much as do those things which concern
more particularly morals. The consequence of
this attitude characteristic of Lamartine is treated
by M. Souriau in a very interesting article, a re-
sume1 of some fifteen "Ie9ons" on the versification
of Lamartine.
In these days of the breathless hunt after the
"ine'dit," often almost valueless and appealing
merely to curiosity, it is refreshing to read such
an article as M. Souriau' s Le Roman de Casimir
Delavigne.* It is a study of a hitherto unknown
part of the poet's life — his love affair with Mme.
Elisa de Courtin, "dame d'honneur" of Queen
Hortense, which culminated in marriage. The
purpose of the article is to show the potent and
happy influence of this love on the poet's work.
M. Souriau bases his every statement upon the
poet's letters to the lady which are preserved in
the Municipal Library at Le Havre.
In his Diseours de Reception a I' Academic,
Sainte-Beuve, Delavigne's successor, distinguishes
two periods in the poet's literary activity marked
off one from the other by the journey to Italy
(1826). In the midst of his success Delavigne
left for Italy and on his return to France he
found a new order of things in French letters ;
and thereafter he is, as it were, the champion of a
lost cause. Though he yields to the new move-
ment, he remains the same au fond and like a
skillful general, he still wins victories, while beat-
ing a retreat.5 M. Souriau likewise distinguishes
'Published in La Revue d'hist. lilt, de la. France, 1899
and 1900.
6 Sainte-Beuve, Portraits Gmtemporains, v. 169 fl. Cf.
Lemaitre, Impressions de Theatre, vin, 90 fl.
two periods, making the division also at the time
of the journey to Italy ; but he is concerned not
so much with the poet's actual success as with the
happy change wrought in his poetry by the love
which came to him at thirty-three. His conten-
tion is that the lyric quality, the romanticism, so
to speak, of Delavigne's work is not altogether a
mere involuntary flowing along with the current,
but that it is something more ; it is the poet's ex-
pression of himself, and although his work may
lack that fervid, impetuous, wild lyric outburst of
some of his contemporaries, it is none the less real,
none the less personal and far from a simple forced
copy of others' patterns. Up to 1826, Delavigne's
success was due in great measure to what M. Sou-
riau calls "la conspiration du public avec lui "
for, as Sainte-Beuve says, he always knew how
to be "a 1'unisson, au niveau du sentiment pu-
blic." His knowledge of human life is, however,
inadequate ; his women characters are especially
weak. All this was to change, however, and the
change was to be wrought by love. M. Souriau
sketches in a delightful manner this charming love
story, quoting generously from the poet's letters,
for Mme. de Courtin' s share in the correspondence
has not been preserved. Sensible, unromautic, yet
almost jealous, fond of strolling in the churches,
melancholy and playfully childish, the poet loves
with all the freshness of a naive untried soul, in
the transports and flush of first love. Strength
and purity characterize this romance which M.
Souriau calls: "1'histoire d'un brave homme et
une bonnete femme."
M. Souriau traces the influence of this love
throughout the poet's work from the Mess&niennes
of 1827 to the very end, supporting his statements
by quotations from the poet's letters. After read-
ing this article one feels that there is reason to
modify somewhat Sainte-Beuve's statement: "lui-
mame a consacre les pr4mices de son bonheur do-
mestique dans les seuls vers peut-etre oil il se soit
permis ce genre d' epanchement :
Iln'est point de beaux lieux que n'embellisse
Le sentiment profond qu'on eprouva pres d'eui,*
because the poet has permitted himself " ce genre
d'epanchement " many times elsewhere. With
0 Sainte-Beuve, Portraits Contemporains, v, 182.
118
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 4.
M. Souriau We recognize Hugo's overshadowing
genius, dwarfing all that comes near it ; but we
also recognize the truth in his statement that it
redounds to Delavigne's praise that: "he owed
nothing to Hugo, neither a figure nor a verse
form, neither a situation nor a piece ; what is
called his imitation of Romanticism is the free
evolution of his talent. As to his dramatic value,
his plays in verse, well balanced in form and con-
tent, rank immediately after those of Hugo, for
Delavigne's repertoire is distinctly superior to
the pieces of Dumas or De Vigny, and it is
especially so of those written after the journey to
Italy."
The literary movement so happily begun in
Provence and so successfully carried on by the
Felibres7 was not slow in finding disciples in
other parts of France, so that to-day the decen-
tralising or regionalist movement is a very well
defined and important one, the extent of which
may be appreciated by consulting Charles-Brun's
brochure : Les Litteratures Provinciales.s "Decen-
tralisation was one of the articles of the political
creed (symbole) which triumphed in 1830," 9 and
it will be remembered that toward the end of the
Empire this tendency in the domain of politics
manifested itself in what is called the Ecole
de Nancy,10 but failed of any result owing
to suspicions of Separatism." The Due de
Chambord himself was inclined towards decentrali-
sation."
It was in the field of literature that the move-
ment met with the greatest success. Even on the
border line it was successful, at least partially so,
for the provincial Universities were given some
measure of autonomy and were reorganized so as
not to be entirely divorced from the strong life of
the provinces. The act has been characterized as
' ' the most complete and most frank effort at de-
I Vd. Mistral, Memoires et Recits, Paris, 1906.
8 Paris, BloudetCie., 1907.
8Ch. de Remusat, R. D. M., xxix, 819 (15 oct. 1860).
In fact, the movement dates as early as the first quarter
of the nineteenth century. Vd. C. Jullian, Historians
Francais du dix-neuvi&me siicle, p. xxvii ; 41. Vd. also
the first issue of the Globe, Sept. 16, 1824.
10 Hanotaux, Hist, de la France Contemp., Ill, 369.
II Idem., Ill, 390.
"Idem., 11, 241, quoting the Memoires of Mine, de la
Ferronnay.
centralisation which France has carried out in this
century." "
It was quite fitting then that M. Souriau, pro-
fessor of French Literature at the University of
Caen, the University of Normandy, so to speak,
and author of an admirable Rapport sur le Mouve-
ment Litteraire en Normandie de 1898 d 1902,
should have been chosen to deliver the address,
when Les Fetes du Souvenir Normand took place
at Caen in the summer of 1905. This address
appears as La Fete des Poetes Normands, an in-
teresting, sympathetic, delicate and penetrating
appreciation of the work of contemporary poets in
Normandy, such as Frederic Plessis, Breton by
birth and Norman by adoption ; Florentin Loriot
and Paul Harel, disciples of Le Vavasseur.
The regionalist movement is doing much to
spread the great truth that Paris is not France,
although people still persist in judging the country
by what they may see in the metropolis. This
ignorance concerning the other thirty-three mil-
lion of souls dwelling outside of Paris is wide-
spread. Fostered by the long standing disdain of
the Parisian for his brother of the provinces," it
is not dissipated by the stereotyped studies of pro-
vincial life turned out by the imitators of Balzac,
Flaubert and Maupassant. The two latter, though
observant and accurate, were one-sided and pur-
posely unsympathetic. "They lack that brotherly
love and that respect for the life of man, which
alone can build up a work of justice in literature
or government." These are the very qualities
which exist to a marked degree iii the work of
Rene" Bazin. He believes in "the equality of
souls and of grief"; he feels that "the life of
man is everywhere worthy of the same interest,
capable of arousing the same emotions, the same
anger, the same admiration " ; he knows ' ' what
proofs of endurance and uprightness the humblest
lives can offer. ' ' 16
This tenderness and humanity, the broad sym-
pathy, so lacking in the work of the Naturalists
13 Coubertin : The Evolution of France under the Third
Republic, p. 339. Cf. further : La Decentralisation oil en
sommet nous, Maurice Ajam, depute^ in the Revue Politigue
et Parlementaire, 10 juillet, 1908.
14 Rene1 Bazin : Le Province dans le Roman, in Questions
Litteraires et Socialet, Paris, 1906.
l" Ibidem. ™ Ibidem.
April, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
and strongly contrasting with their studied imper-
sonality, received due attention from Brunetiere
when he welcomed Bazin to the Academy greeting
him as the continuator of Balzac in the Roman
Social. Under the title M. Rene Bazin et le Roman
Social, M. Souriau gives an admirable study of the
novelist and his work, establishing his philosophy,
which is Catholic, and indicating his remedy for
those who suffer, ' ' which is the old, old one : love
and sacrifice," for suffering is not relieved nor
remedied by what is merely material and man
is something more than mere flesh.
Perhaps the most interesting of all the articles
in the volume is that entitled : Le Jansenisme des
' ' Pensees ' ' de Pascal. There is always a certain
fascination in conjecturing the plan of an un-
finished work and in establishing the great unity
of an author's life production. Some writers may
lend themselves to such treatment, and at the
hands of the skillful they gain thereby. Others
less docile must be constrained, and the results are
less satisfactory. In all cases an attempt to dis-
cover the dominant motive in an author's life and
its relation to his literary remains is always profit-
able, if only from the fact that another point of
view has been disclosed, for, until the matter has
been considered from all points of view, we cannot
say that we know the author — such knowledge
being the final synthesis of all previous analyses.
Yielding to this fascination, M. Souriau, in an
article of some forty pages full of facts and logical
deductions, works out a theory which establishes
unity in Pascal's work and makes the Pensees the
logical sequel of the Provinciales. He attacks the
traditional thesis, namely, that the Pensees would
have been an apology of Catholicism and nothing
else. In opposition to this, M. Souriau seeks to
establish the following : in the purely dogmatic
part of the work, Pascal intends above all to prove
the truth of Jansenism ; in the other part devoted
to polemics, he would have attacked those whom
he considered the enemies of Port Royal and of
himself, i. e. , the Jesuits, the King and the Pope. "
M. Souriau reviews briefly the genesis and per-
sistence of the erroneous and traditional interpre-
tation from the "edition affadie, chatree, pour
dire le vrai mot ' ' of the Pensees published by Port
Royal, down through the eighteenth and nine-
teenth centuries, through Victor Cousin and more
recent critics. He notes that although many have
alluded to the all-pervading Jansenism of the
Pensees, it has been only in passing and without
developing the idea further. No one has remarked
sufficiently its importance. M. Souriau proposes
to indicate and show clearly that importance,
thereby reestablishing unity in Pascal's work and
showing the Pensees to be " la suite logique des
Provinciales. ' '
Briefly his theory is as follows : Pascal's inten-
tion to write an apology was modified by the
milieu and the moment. He lived at Port Royal,
which harbored inexhaustible, untiring hatred to-
ward the Jesuits, which considered the court as
the ' ' ultima ratio du diable, ' ' and which pro-
fessed a perfect disdain for ecclesiastical superiors,
and manifested an icy coldness towards the Pa-
pacy. Such an atmosphere could not be without
its effect on Pascal. Nor was he uninfluenced by
the mode of life followed at Port Royal, which M.
Souriau characterizes as "the most frightful regime
ever invented to torture the poor human machine. ' '
All these characteristics of Port Royal were raised
by Pascal to the nth power ; he was more Jan-
senist than Jansenius himself. But Pascal's in-
tention was modified by the moment also. Not
satisfied with the Provinciales, but, nevertheless,
encouraged by their success, he determined to con-
tinue the fight against the Jesuits, as one may
gather from the Eighteenth Provinciate. The
Miracle of the Holy Thorn (Mar. 24, 1656) con-
firming him in this intense spirit of combat, he
increases the fierceness of the polemic in the Pro-
vinciales, beginning with the Sixth (Apr. 10,
1656). Pascal is upheld in his struggle by God.
His enemies are confounded, but do not, will not
recognize their defeat. Confident in the supreme
righteousness of his cause, which he identifies with
the cause of Christ and His Church, Pascal con-
tinues with increased vigor and acrimony.18 Perse-
cution breaks out. Port Royal is dispersed by
decree of the Conseil du Roi. A Formulaire is
presented to the Port Royalists for signature.
Jacqueline, Pascal's sister, signs and dies. A
second Formulaire is presented. Pascal domi-
17 Cf. BrunetiSre, Andes Critiques, i, 90.
18 Cf. the Factums for the cure's of Paris and of Rouen.
120
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 4.
nated by all these events carries his resistance so
far that Port Royal, in the persons of Arnauld and
Nicole, refuses to follow him. A consideration of
.the milieu and the moment as thus outlined will
give some conception of what must have been
Pascal's etat d'dme when he wrote the Pensees.
Port Royalist intransigeant, whose most abso-
lute rule is predestination, Pascal so assimilated
and intensified the doctrine of Jansenius that he
practised what M. Souriau is pleased to call for
want of a better term ' ' pascalism. " What im-
portance would these two, Jansenism and its inten-
sified form Pascalism, have had in the work, if
finished? If we count merely the pages and
lines, articles and fragments where these doctrines
are evident in the work as it now stands, we must
concede, says M. Souriau, that they would occupy
a rather restricted place. The real importance of
Pascal's doctrine will appear, however, when we
note that " these pages contain, not assertions of
detail, but theories of general doctrine which are
the very backbone of the Work." In the last
analysis ' ' les Pensees ne sont qu' une exposition
du Jansenisme exasp6r£, un nouvel Augustinus,
revu, corrige1 et consideYablement aggravS qui ne
voulait prouver que deux choses : les Jansenistes
seraient les seuls vrais disciples de Jesus, leurs
adversaires ne seraient pas de v6ritables chre'tiens."
In a separate chapter M. Souriau traces the
development of Pascal's animosity towards the
Jesuits, his attacks on the monarchy and his
criticism of the Papacy itself. Needless to say
the foregoing thesis gives rise to objections, the
most important of which M. Souriau answers.
He believes, then, that Pascal's first plan, which
was to write an apology, was modified so that
instead he wrote a polemical work defending Jan-
senism and attacking its foes : the Jesuits, the
Court and the Pope. Here we have a change
analogous to that evident in the Provinciales — a
change caused by the milieu in which Pascal lived
and by the events of his last years. Notwith-
standing Hatzfeld's opinion that Pascal's Jan-
senism amounts to very little, one is inclined,
after reading this article, to say with Faguet :
"je penche vers 1'opinion de ceux qui croient que
les Pensees sont un livre centre les Jesuites. ' ' 19
" Rev. Latine, 25 oct., 1904, p. 594.
All these articles widely differing in content
possess a unity which binds them together in that,
at first for the most part University lectures, they
were conceived in a spirit of exactness, impartial-
ity, in short, in a spirit thoroughly scientific,
which the author defines in an excellent Avant-
Propos: L' Esprit Scientifique et la Critique Lit-
teraire, indicating what claims to a scientific char-
acter may be urged for the study of literature.
After all, it is not so much the application to that
study of theories or hypotheses distinctly belong-
ing to the exact sciences which should be culti-
vated, but rather the scientific attitude of mind,
which should be sought after. M. Souriau' s own
book is a happy example of the middle way
between the unscientific, careless, irresponsible
method and that method which is characterized
largely by endless and futile citations, wearying
references : an idle show of barren pedantry. Ever
judicious and careful, he is, at the same time,
interesting, stimulating and illuminating, clear
and understandable, an admirable instance of that
clarity and precision so peculiarly French and of
the industry and intelligence, solid attainment
and stimulating effect of the French University
professor.
WILLIAM A. MCLAUGHLIN.
University of Michigan.
MODERN FRENCH LITERATURE.
EDOUAED HEEEIOT : Madame Recamier et ses
amis, d'apres de nouveaux documents ine'dits.
Paris : Plon, 1905.— Two vols. lxxix-357,
418 pages.
This large work contains a great deal concerning
literature and deserves, therefore, a brief mention
here.
Although not what one might well call a "lit-
erary salon," the salon of the beautiful friend of
Madame de Stael always counted among its guests
a great many writers of fame. Moreover, regard-
ing Madame Recamier' s personality, she is not
only the model of almost all the Beatrixes painted
or sculptured in Italy since Canova, she is also
the heroine of Madame de Genlis' Athenais ou le
April, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
121
chdteau de Coppei en 1807, and she is, at least
partly, the original of the countess Foedora in
Balzac's Peau de Chagrin. Again, she inspired
many beautiful passages of Chateaubriand's
Memoires d' Outre Tombe, and it is owing to her
influence alone that Chateaubriand's not alto-
gether favorable judgment of Madame de Stael,
in the first version of the " Memoires," was con-
siderably altered later.
Then the book contains a good deal of unpub-
lished and often valuable documents with regard
to the many literary celebrities that, at different
times, surrounded Mad. Recamier. The title of
the work is "Madame Recamier et ses amis."
We learn a great deal first of all, of course, about
Madame de Stael, then about Benjamin Constant,
Ballanche, the two Amperes, Barante, etc., etc.,
and (in the second volume) especially about
Chateaubriand.
Every one studying a literary problem of this
period is almost sure to find some sort of informa-
tion in Herriot. It may not be much, only per-
haps a little fact, but we all know how much such
little facts count sometimes in scholarly researches.
The book was described : " un pave1 sur une
rose." It is a just criticism from an esthetic
point of view ; but the abundance of information
that suggested it will not frighten a special student
of literature. On the contrary.
A general index would be desirable, although
the table of contents will render things rather easy
to those who wish to consult the work for reference.
Bryn Mawr College.
ALBERT SCHINZ.
CORRESPONDENCE.
A NOTE ON Twelfth Night.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS:
Oliv. What kind o' man is he ?
Mai. Why of mankinde.
Dr. Furness (Variorum Twelfth Night, p. 78)
says, ' ' This dallying of words is unclear to me. ' '
"P. W. B." in New Shakespeareana (July,
1908, p. 78), undertakes to throw light upon this
obscure passage by recalling the German transla-
tion of prostitute, Das Mensch, literally 'The
Mankind.' He would give "mankinde," in
Malvolio's answer the meaning of "virago," a
use of which "we find numerous examples in
Early English." In illustration he gives six
examples in which the adjective ' mankind ' has
the value of "masculine, virago-like." In each
of these examples the adjective refers to a femi-
nine subject. I give the two of the examples
that are quoted from Shakespeare. Coriolanus,
iv, ii, 16. Are you mankind ? [of Virgilia] ;
Winter's Tale, n, iii, 67. A mankind witch [of
Paulina] .
The explanation suggested, that of ' masculine,
virago-like,' is not the meaning Malvolio had in
mind in making his pun on the "kind o' man"
of his mistress Olivia. He certainly does not
suspect the real sex of the messenger, and has no
thought of calling Cesario either " masculine " or
"virago-like." He does mean to emphasize by
the use of "mankinde" the insistent nature of
Cesario' s demand, of which he has just made re-
port. In answer to Olivia's request, he replies
that the messenger is ' ' fierce, ' ' even ' ' furious, ' '
exaggerating for the effect of the pun perhaps.
"Mankinde" here is an adjective (the noun is
understood), to which the Oxford Dictionary as-
signs the meanings "infuriated, fierce, furious,
mad."
Not only had Malvolio no intention of calling
the sex of the disguised page into question, but in
using the adjective "mankinde" in the sense of
' fierce,' he had the fixed thought still further to
lay stress on Cesario' s ' unmannerly ' behaviour.
Olivia's next words give him opportunity to
emphasize the thought once more. To Olivia' s
"What manner of man?", he replies, punning
again, "Of very ill -manner : he'll speak with
you, will you or no." The closely-knit thought,
then, of this passage is strengthened, not weak-
ened, by this pun, a claim that cannot be made
for all of the puns of Shakespeare.
In reference to women, as in the two examples
from Shakespeare quoted above, the use of the
adjective " mankind " is decidedly uncomplimen-
tary, that of "masculine, virago-like," as the
context shows. In reference to men it may have
122
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 4.
born a similarly uncomplimentary meaning ; and
with this force, would have been peculiarly fitting
to Malvolio's attitude towards Cesario, the Duke's
messenger, and the whole serving world in gen-
eral. The close relation of this use of ' ' man-
kind "* to "mankeen"2 may account for the
touch of contempt that I suspect was implied in
Malvolio's use of the word.
A rare case in which we find mankeen referring
to a man is in Hist. Jacob & Esau, 11. ii. Cjb,
where Ragan speaks to his raging master Esau,
" What ? are you mankene now? I reckon it best
I, To bind your handes behind you euen as ye lye.
JEsau. Nay, have mercy on me and let me not
perish. ' ' 3 Two examples of ' ' mankind ' ' in the
sense of "infuriated, furious," etc., I add from
the six that the Oxford Dictionary gives : Chap-
man, AllFooles, Wks., 1873, i. 167, GoodSignor
Cornelio be not too mankinde against your wife ;
Josselyn, New Eng. Rarities, 13, they [Bears] . . .
are never mankind, i. e. fierce, but in rutting
time.
M. P. TILLEY.
University of Michigan.
AN UNKNOWN MIDDLE ENGLISH TRANSLATION
OF L'Epitre d' Othea.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — Dr. Warner, the Keeper of the MSS. in
the British Museum, edited for the Roxburghe
Club in 1904 a translation by Stephen Scrope of
L'Epitre d' Othea a Hector, by Christine de Pisan.
Besides this effort of Fastolf s worthy squire,
Dr. Warner noted another translation made and
printed some seventy years later, about 1540, by
Robert Wyer, an early Charing Cross bookseller.
I have now identified a third translation, of
1 " Of obscure origin : possibly a perversion of Mankeen,
though that form does not appear in our quote, till later."
Oxford Dictionary.
2 "Of animals (rarely of persons) : Inclined to attack
men ; fierce, savage." Oxford Dictionary.
3 In John S. Farmer's modernized spelling of this word
(E. E. D. S., Anonymous Plays, Second Series, p. 28), he
gives it as mankin, an example of the modernized spelling
that is so serious a defect of this otherwise useful series of
volumes for the study of Early English plays.
which Dr. Warner was not aware. It is con-
tained in MS. Harley 838, a volume probably
dating from the reign of Edward IV, after 1471 ;
and is thus contemporaneous with Scrope' s trans-
lation. The author seems to have been Anthony
Babyngton, as appears from the first article in the
volume, translated and written ' ' per me Antonium
babyngton." This first article is a treatise on
heraldic terms, worked up from various sources,
and as the whole volume deals with genealogy,
heraldry, history and knighthood, and is written
throughout by Babyngton, it is more than prob-
able that the Othea, which is unsigned, is also his
work. The language and style of both articles
point to the same view.
On the fly-leaf of the volume, in a hand temp.
Hen. VIII, is a signature of Anthony Babyngton
(2), and another, dated 1550, of Henry Babyng-
ton. These two men were grandfather and father
respectively of Anthony Babyngton (3), the con-
spirator of Elizabeth's time, who was executed in
1586 after the exposure of the plot to kill the
Queen, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, upon the
throne.
Anthony Babyngton (2), who was sheriff of
Derby and Notts in 1534, and died before 1537,
cannot have written the volume, since his hand-
writing is of a much later time. Another An-
thony (1), of the same age as this man's grand-
father, must therefore be looked upon as our
author. I have thus far found no record of him,
though the family was noble and widespread
throughout the fifteenth century, and the pro-
nomen so evidently a family one.
This volume was not among the volumes confis-
cated among Anthony Babyngton' s effects, as
given in MS. Lansdowne 50. The name "Daniel
Hills 1594" on fol. 12, is evidence that the book
had left its original owners before that date.
The Epistle of Othea, which is complete, occu-
pies folios 67-91. The "text" is in ballade, or
rhyme royal ; the "glose" and the "moralyte"
in prose. It begins with the line, which I give
for identification,
" The hye divine eternall maieste."
Babyngton varies sometimes from his original, as
for example when he calls Narcissus a "fair
maid."
April, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
123
An edition of Babyngton and Wyer, and a re-
print of the Scrope version, from a better and
more complete MS. than that in the Roxburghe
edition, is arranged for through the Early English
Text Society.
HENRY NOBLE MACCRACKEN.
Yale University.
literature, and, as the De Officiis has come straight
down from the hands of the author, there seems to
be no need of any ' ' intermediary ' ' to account for
its introduction into English literature.
"NEVER LESS ALONE THAN WHEN ALONE."
1o the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — In the February number of Mod. Lang.
Notes, Professor Cook, in a note tracing this apo-
thegm in English literature to its source, after
citing passages from Gibbon, Rogers, Byron, goes
on to say :
"But it occurs earlier in Browne's (1616)
Britannia's Pastorals 2. 4. 170 :
' Or to be least alone when most alone,' "
and then, after quotations from Drummond of
Hawthornden, Milton and Sidney, reaches this
conclusion :
' ' All these are ultimately indebted to Cicero,
DeRe Publ. 1. 17, 27, though, as the only known
MS. of this work was not discovered till the early
part of the nineteenth century, it was doubtless
through some intermediary."
After reading this note I took down my copy of
Cicero's De Officiis, and soon found the following
passage marked (3. 1) : "P. Scipionem, Marce
fili, eum qui primus Africanus appellatus est,
dicere solitum scripsit Cato, qui fuit ejus fere
sequalis, numquam se minus otiosum esse quam
quum otiosus, nee minus solum quam quum solus
esaet."
There I found also a reference to 1. 29 : " Quo
genere non modo Plautus noster et Atticorum
antiqua comoadia, sed etiam philosophorum So-
craticorum libri referti sunt ; multaque multorum
facete dicta, ut ea, quse a sene Catone collecta
sunt, quse vocant awo<j>&tyiMTa. ' '
Cato' a book of " Elegant Extracts " is doubt-
less the ultimate source of the apothegm in Latin
EDWARD A. ALLEN.
University ef Missouri.
A NOTE ON HEINE'S Harzreise.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS: — " Ein junger Burschenschafter, der
kiirzlich zur Purifikation in Berlin gewesen. . . .
wusste nicht, dass, da in Berlin iiberhaupt der
Schein der Dinge am meisten gilt, was schon die
allgemeine Redensart ' man so duhn ' hinlanglich
andeutet, dieses Scheinwesen auf den Brettern erst
recht florieren muss, und dass daher die Inten-
danz am meisten zu sorgen hat fur die 'Farbe des
Barts, womit eine Rolle gespielt wird,' fur die
Treue der Kostiime, die von beeidigten Histori-
kern vorgezeichnet und von wissenschaftlich ge-
bildeten Schneidern geniiht werden." 1 Of course,
this passage is directed against the innovations of
Graf Briihl : but strange to say, none of Heine's
many editors (not even B. J. Vos's very careful
edition of the Harzreise, published by Heath)
seems to have noticed the reference of the words
which he placed in quotation marks. Beyond
doubt he had in mind the classic dialogue in
the Midsummer Night's Dream (Act i, sc. 2) :
Quince : . . . you must needs play Pyramus.
Bottom : Well, I will undertake it. What beard
were I best to play it in ?
Quince : Why, what you will.
Bottom : I will discharge it in either your straw
colour beard, your orange-tawny beard, your pur-
ple-in-grain beard, or your French crown colour
beard, your perfect yellow, etc.
Heine's paraphrase seems to have been made
from the English, for it does not follow any of the
German translations accessible to him.
Jena.
JULIA DAVENPORT RANDALL.
1 Heine's Samtliche Werke, hrsg. v. Ernst Elster III, 59
(Leipzig und Wien, n. d.). The italics are mine, but the
quotation marks are Heine's own.
124
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xriv, No. 4.
WORDSWORTH'S USE OF MILTON'S DESCRIPTION
OF THE BUILDING OF PANDEMONIUM.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — To what extent a figure in poetry may
prevail in a writer's mind, and be reflected in his
own work is strikingly exemplified in the case of
Milton's description of the building of Pande-
monium, and its reappearance in the poetry of
Wordsworth. It is not surprising that so earnest
a student and passionate a lover of Milton should
have been influenced by this most exquisite of all
descriptions. The ' ' rising like an exhalation ' '
is the line which seems to have laid the deepest
hold upon Wordsworth's imagination. Could it
have been that his own land, the country of the
lakes, with its mists and drifting fogs, suggested
a comparison with the picture of the palace rising
like a mist ?
Dorothy Wordsworth, in a letter to Mrs.
Clarkson, dated from Elleray, November 12,
1810, tells of the power which the rising mists in
the mountains had to suggest Milton to Words-
worth :
"The weather was heavenly when we were
there, ' ' she writes, ' ' and the first morning we sat
in hot sunshine on a crag, twenty yards from the
door, while William read part of the fifth book of
Paradise Lost to us. He read The Morning Hymn,
while a stream of white vapour, which coursed
the valley of Brathay, ascended slowly and by
degrees melted away. It seemed as if we never
before felt deeply the power of the poet, ' Ye
mists and exhalations, etc. , etc. ' '
Here, it seems, must be proof positive of
Wordsworth's connecting the thought of Milton
(P. L. v, 185 f.) with the mists of his own land.
And as deeply as he loved the country around
Roydal Mount, so must the power of Milton's de-
scription have appealed to him, and become an
unconscious part of his poetry.
In reference to his faith Wordsworth writes to
Sir George Beaumont, May 28, 1825 :
"I look abroad upon Nature, I think of the
best part of our species, I lean upon my friends,
and I meditate upon the Scriptures, especially the
Gospel of St. John ; and my creed rises up of
itself, with the ease of an exhalation, yet a fabric
of adamant. ' '
Surely a more beautiful use of the simile could
hardly be found.
In the Waggoner (Canto iv) appears :
And the smoke and respiration
Rising like an exhalation,
Blend with the mist — a moving shroud
To form, an undissolving cloud ;
Which, with slant ray, the merry sun
Takes delight to play upon.
Which suggests, not only the passage at P. L. i,
710 f., but also the passage which Wordsworth
read to Dorothy that morning, P. L. v, 1 85 f.
In the Ode, Who rises on the banks of /Seine f
from the Poems Dedicated to National Independ-
ence and Liberty, we find Wordsworth dependent
upon the idea of building by the power of music :
Whether, as bards have told in ancient song,
Built up by soft, seducing harmonies ;
Or prest together by the appetite,
And by the power of wrong.
In another Ode in the same series, When the
Soft Hand of Sleep, he turns to the passage again,
in a series of lines of rarest beauty through which
the words of Milton gleam like jewels through a
crystal goblet :
Anon before my sight a palace rose
Built of all precious substances, —so pure
And exquisite, that sleep alone bestows
Ability like splendour to endure :
Entered with streaming thousands, through the gate,
I saw the banquet spread beneath a Dome of state
A lofty Dome that dared to emulate
The heaven of sable night
With starry lustre ; yet had power to throw
Solemn effulgence, clear as solar light,
Upon a princely company below,
While the vault rang with choral harmony,
Like some Nymph-haunted grot beneath the roaring sea.
The ' ' streaming thousands ' ' is undoubtedly a
recollection of Milton's description of the lost
spirits trooping into the newly built Pandemonium,
With hundreds and with thousands trooping came.
The beauty and proportion of a perfect building,
rather than its rising to music or like a mist,
appeals to Wordsworth in the Ode, Imagination —
ne'er before content. The highest praise he can
bestow upon a proposed temple is : —
April, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
125
Bright be the Fabric, as a star
Fresh risen and beautiful within I — there meet
Dependence and infinite proportion just ;
A Pile that Grace approves, and Time can trnst
With his most sacred wealth, heroic dust.
In The Excursion, fifth book, the lines
For, from this pregnant spot of ground, such thoughts
Else to the notice of a serious mind
By natural exhalation.
suggest the rising of the building, naturally as an
exhalation from the ground.
Wordsworth's use of this Mil tonic figure with
its accompanying similes may have been uninten-
tional ; it undoubtedly was. The fact that it
reappears so often and in so diverse a manner is
but another proof of his admiration of and
dependence upon Milton.
Wilmington, Del.
ALICE M. DUNBAR.
THEORIES OF VISION IN ENGLISH POETRY.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — Certain passages in our early poetry
imply obsolete and primitiv theories of vision,
seriously stated by the Greek filosofers. I have
collected the following to which I should be glad
to add.
Spenser, Faerie Queen, 2, 11. 26, 1-2:
For as the winged wind his Tigre fled,
That new of eye could scarse him overtake.
Milton, Samson Agonistes, 581-585 :
But God who caus'd a fountain at thy prayer
From the dry ground to spring, thy thirst to allay
After the brunt of battle, can as easy
Cause light again within thy eyes to spring,
Wherewith to serve him better than thou hast.
Dryden, The Hind and thePanther, Part n, 74-76 :
Because philosophers may disagree
If sight by emission or reception be,
Shall it be thence inferred I do not see?
An admirable account of Greek theories of
sense-perception, up to and including Aristotle is
Greek Theories of Elementary Cognition from Alc-
maeon to Aristotle, by John I. Beare, M. A., Ox-
ford, Clarendon Press, 1906. To this work my
attention is called by my friend Professor H. N.
Gardiner. From it I draw a few hints in explana-
tion of the above passages.
According to Theofrastus, Alcmaeon of Crotona
held that the eye contains fire, as is evinst by
the fact that a flash takes place within the eye
when it receives a blow. (Beare, p. 11.) This
would of itself perhaps sufficiently explain the
passage of Samson Agonistes. But here we have
also to reckon with the account of Milton's symp-
toms in his letter (No. 15) to Leonard Filaras :
' ' I ought not to omit that while I had any sight
left, as soon as I lay down on my bed and turud
on either side, a flood of light used to gush from
my closed eyelids. ' ' (Milton' s Prose Works, edited
by St. John, Bohn, vol. 3, p. 508. )
According to the Pythagorean theory, in sight
a visual ray proceeds from the eye to the object of
vision, reaching which it doubles back again to
the eye, like a forearm outstretcht and then bent
back again to the shoulder (Beare, p. 12). A
somewhat similar theory is stated in the Timaeus
of Plato (Beare, p. 44) to the effect that light
issuing from the eye, is compacted with the sur-
rounding daylight into a homogeneous whole,
which when it collides with anything in the line
of vision causes the sensation of sight. Both the
Pythagoreans and Plato seem to give Dry den's
sight "by emission," a theory which clearly
underlies also the passage from Spenser.
Dry den's sight "by reception" corresponds to
several Greek theories. Thus Empedocles taught
that emanations from the object perceivd enterd
the perceptiv organ by certain pores (Beare, p,
14). Further " Democritus asserts that seeing is
the reception of an image reflected from the ob-
ject seen." (Alexander ad Aristotelem, in Beare,
p. 30).
Whether the direct source of the theory for any
of the above passages of English poetry, may not
have been a later Greek writer than Aristotle, I
have not inquired. And I dout whether even
Dryden had in mind any of the theories of the
science of his own day.
HENRY BARRETT HINCKLEY.
Northampton, Mass.
126
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 4.
BYRON AND SHAKESPEARE.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — Among the many good points of Mr.
Ernest Hartley Coleridge's editing in the recent
Murray Byron (London, 1898-1904) is the care
with which the poet's frequent reminiscences of
well-known authors are recorded. There are,
however, a few Shaksperian imitations that Mr.
Coleridge has not noted, and which, too, have
escaped the notice of Ludwig Fuhrmann (Die
Belesenheit desjungen Byron, Berlin, 1903), and
Ernst Zabel (Byrons Kenntnis von Shakespeare
und sein Urteil uber ihn, Halle a. S., 1904). Let
me call your attention, for instance, to the follow-
ing parallels between Sardanapalus and Julius
Cossar :
(1.)
(a) It were to die
Before my hour, to live in dread of death,
Tracing revolt. (Sard., i, ii, 393-395.)
(2-)
Lady M. We fail !
But screw your courage to the sticking-
place,
And we'll not fail.
(Macbeth, I, vii, 59-61.)
(b ) Cowards die many times before their deaths ;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
(Ccesar, u, ii, 32-33.)
(2.)
(a) Arb. Our business is with night — 'tis come.
Bel. But not
Gone. (Sard., II, i, 39-41.)
(6) dees. The ides of March are come.
Sooth. Ay, Caesar ; but not gone.
( Ccesar, III, i, 1-2. )
With all proper scepticism in regard to verbal
accidents, I think we may feel it to be quite
possible that Byron's unusually retentive mind
was here reproducing vaguely remembered phrases
from the great dramatist.
Macbeth is one of the plays most quoted by
Lord Byron, according to the tabulation of Herr
Zabel ; but I have noted no references to Byron's
Marino Faliero in this section of the German's
study, although Mr. Coleridge has recorded at
least these three clear parallels between this play
and Macbeth :
(1.)
(a) Cal. But if we fail—
1. Ber. They never fail who die
In a great cause.
(Mar. Fal., II, ii, 93-94.)
(6) Macb. If we should fail,—
(a) Would that the hour were come I we will not scotch,
But kUl. (Mar. Fal., Ill, ii, 268-269.)
(6) We have scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it.1
(Macbeth, u, iii, 13. )
(3.)
(a) And I repented ; but 'twas not for me
To pull in resolution : what must be
I could not change, and would not fear.
(Mar. Fat., v, ii, 49-51.)
(6) I pull in resolution and begin
To doubt the equivocation of the fiend
That lies like truth.
(Macbeth, v, v. 42-44.)
With these cases to establish a presumption of
relationship between Marino Faliero and Macbeth,
I may perhaps allow myself to note a few other
possible cases of similarity that have come to my
attention :
(I-)
(a) Doge. There's blood upon thy face — how came it
there?
J. Ber. 'Tis mine. (Mar. Fal., I, ii, 334-335.)
(6) Macb. There's blood upon thy face.
Mur. 'Tis Banquo's, then.
(Macbeth, m, iv, 12-13.)
(2.)
(a) /. Ber. Let's away — hark — the Hour strikes.
Doge. On — On —
It is our knell, or that of Venice. — On.
(Mar. Fal., m, i, 118-120.)
(6) 1 go and it is done ; the bell invites me.
Hear it not, Duncan ; for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven or to hell.
(Macbeth, n, i, 62-64).
(a) When all is over, you'll be free and merry,
And calmly wash those hands incarnadine.
(Mar. Fal., in, ii, 508-509.)
(6) No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.
(Macbeth, u, ii, 62-64. )
It is possible, of course, to go too far in drawing
parallels, as I think Herr Zabel does in basing
1 Cf. Don Juan, x, 19 :
I "scotched not killed" the Scotchman in my blood.
April, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
127
proof of a Shaksperian reminiscence on the bare
occurrence of the not uncommon noun " where-
abouts." I do not believe that quite the same
objection can justly be lodged against the much
rarer " hands incarnadine," nor, perhaps, against
the word ' ' bodements, ' ' which occurs in the next
quotation.
(4.)
(a) Those horrible bodements which, amidst the throng,
I could not dissipate. ( Mar. Fal., IV, i, 107-108. )
(6) Who can impress the forest, bid the tree
Unfix his earthbound root? Sweet bodements! good!
(Macbeth, IV. i, 95-96.)
(5.)
(a) Will the morn never put to rest
These stars which twinkle yet o'er all the heavens ?
I'm settled and bound up, and being so,
The very effort which it cost me to
Besolve to cleanse this Commonwealth with fire,
Now leaves my mind more steady.
(Mar. Fal., IV, ii, 71-76.)
(b) I'm settled, and bend up
Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.
(Macbeth, i. vii, 79-80.)
In this case the inaccuracy of Byron' s memory in
regard to the expression ' ' bound up ' ' does not
necessarily disprove the resemblance.
Finally, I should like to mention a reminis-
cence of Ariosto that I have hit upon in The
Vision of Judgment, stanza xcm :
The Bard Saint Peter prayed to interpose
(Himself an author) only for his prose.
Compare Orlando Furiaso, xxxv, 28 (Saint John
is speaking) :
Ch'al vostro mondo fui scrittore anch'io.
Clark College.
PHILIP H. CHURCHMAN.
THE SPANISH NOVEL.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — I should like to bring to the attention
of those readers of Modern Language Notes who
are interested in Spanish literature and especially
the picaresque novel, a book on Mateo Alemdn,
to which I have seen no reference in this country.
It is the discourse read before the Spanish Academy
in October of 1907 by D. Francisco Rodriguez
Mann, author among other works of a critical edi-
tion of Rinconete y Cortadillo, Cervantes estudw en
Sevilla, Luis Sarahona de Soto and several books
of folk-lore.
Taking as a basis what was already known
about Alemdn, as given in the discourse read be-
fore the Academy in Sevilla in 1892 by D. Joa-
qufn Hazanas, and a work by D. Jose" Gestoso
written in 1896 and entitled "Nuevos datos para
ilustrar las biografias del maestro Juan de Malara
y de Mateo Aleman," el Sr. Rodriguez Marin
searched through the various archives of Sevilla,
Madrid, and Alcala de Henares for new details,
which he found in abundance. Among them are
Aleman' s "partida de bautismo," various refer-
ences to his courses of study in Sevilla and Alcala
de Henares, a notice of his taking passage for the
new world and of the exportation of his books,
besides more than sixty "escrituras del ilustre
autor sevillana 6 referentes £ 61. "
Beginning with the removal of Hernando Ale-
m£n to Sevilla a few years before the birth of his
son Mateo, these facts new and old are woven
together into a succinct biography, closing with
Aleman' s taking passage for Mexico in June,
1608 ; but of his stay there "no sabemos sino lo
que se colige de su Ortograffa castellana, que alii
termino y public6 en 1609 y lo que en su libro
in6dito dijo Bartolome de Gongora." This last
is a short reference to Aleman as a friend whom
he had known before they left Spain together.
Occasionally the author offers his own sugges-
tion or explanation, as when he acknowledges that
he could not find out in what academy Aleman
studied the humanities and adds : "presumo que
las cursaria en la del inclito Juan de Mal-lara " :
or is obliged to confess that he cannot reconcile
certain data that he has found. But on the
whole the biography, though short, is one of facts
with the references to the different archives and
authors quoted, carefully noted that there may be
no difficulty in verifying them.
In conclusion Sr. Rodriguez Marin says that in
Aleman' s works one is able as in a far-off vision,
to get the principal events of his life and the
memories of the different countries and cities that
he visited, but that it is only by a study of the
facts that one can understand and rightly judge
his works.
The author has thrown much light on the life
until recently little known, of one of the most
important Spanish writers, and so aided greatly in
128
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 4.
the understanding of what he calls " indiscutible-
mente el principe de nuestros libros picarescos ' '
— Guzman de Alfarache. Indirectly the discourse
furnishes an interesting comparison between the
lives and characters of Alemiln and Cervantes.
The book also contains the discourse of Sr.
Men6ndez Pelayo in answer to that of Sr. Rodri-
guez Marin. It is published by Francisco de P.
Diaz, Plaza de Alfonso xm . 6 and is for sale in
the Madrid bookstores. Price two pesetas.
ALICE H. BUSHEE.
CARLYLE'S Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — Carlyle's translation of Goethe's work
appeared in May, 1824, and several of the British
magazines contain reviews of it in their August
or September numbers, most of them being far
from eulogistic in tone. In fact, the narrow,
petty view which English critics took at that
time of German literature is almost ludicrous.
Think of a reputable critic saying of Goethe's
Faust that — "on the whole, the absurdities of
this piece are so numerous, the obscenities are so
frequent, the profaneness is so gross, and the
beauties are so exclusively adapted for German
relish, that we cannot conscientiously recommend
its importation, and still less the translation of it,
to our English students of German literature!" l
Some fifteen years later the literary critic of the
same magazine suggests that it would have pleased
his English readers better if Carlyle had omitted
from his translation of Wilhelm Meister's Lehr-
jahre the passage describing Wilhelm' s adoration
of the fair Mariana.* In contrast to such criti-
cism the present writer would call attention to
what seems to be the earliest public praise of Car-
lyle's translation, as the criticism is dated " July
31, 1824." It is found in the little publication
called The Drama; or Theatrical Pocket Magazine,
vol. 6, pp. 375 ff. , and reads as follows :
1 The Monthly Review (1810), vol. 62.
1 Book I, chap. xvii. On this point compare Carlyle's
defence in the "Translator's Preface to the First Edition
of Wilhelm Meister."
' ' It certainly has been with no little pleasure
that I have lately perused a work, translated from
Goethe, the title of which is "Wilhelm Meister's
Apprenticeship," and which I most strongly re-
commend to the lovers of the drama, as contain-
ing more real knowledge and a deeper insight into
that noble art, than any work which for a long
time has appeared in this country.
"German literature has been unknown to us, ex-
cepting in those tales of horror which form so large
a portion of the works of all their authors; and
the authors themselves seem to be lost upon us, if
indeed we were ever acquainted with them.8 For
the translations usually fall so far short of the
spirit of the original, that it may be said to be
almost another work. Wilhelm Meister has
brought us much nearer to a knowledge of
Goethe, than any work of that admirable author
which has appeared in English dress, and it is
really gratifying to the feelings of an Englishman,
to hear and read with what reverence his favourite
part is spoken by one of the greatest geniuses
that ever graced his country. The rapture with
which Goethe speaks of Shakespeare, shows that
he is really worthy of that high esteem in which
he is held — all ages and all countries are happy
to bear testimony of the worth of our immortal
Bard. The character of Hamlet has fallen more
particularly under the hand of Goethe — and as it
will be more acceptable to hear the author's own
words, I have selected a few passages out of
numerous other ones, which shew the opinions of
the Germans on that highly drawn character.
"In the present dearth of theatrical news, I hope
these extracts will be acceptable, but to those who
have the books themselves from which these are
taken, I can only say they must read and admire.
I am, Mr. Drama, Yours respectfully, Philo
Kean."
The critic then quotes the famous passages from
Vol. n, pp. 72 ff. and 165 ff.4 An amusing typo-
graphical error occurs in the quotation of Carlyle's
statement of the "disturbances in Norway, the
war with Young Fortinbras, ' ' etc. The critic has
it, "the disturbances in Norway, the bear with
Young Fortinbras."
ALFRED E. RICHARDS.
Princeton, N. J.
8 Cf. Beer's English Romanticism in the Nineteenth Century,
p. 171, and Carlyle's preface (p. vii) to his German
Romance, 1827.
4 The passages are those treating of the composition and
plot of the drama, and particularly the conception of
Hamlet's character. They are found in Book v, chapters
4 and 5. Lack of space prevents their quotation in this
note.
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES
VOL. XXIV.
BALTIMOEE, MAY, 1909.
No. 5.
A NEW TKACE OF SHAKESPERE'S
INFLUENCE UPON SCHILLER'S
WALLENSTEIN.
Prof. Max Winkler in his excellent edition of
Wallenstein refers to the celebrated speech of IIlo
in The Piccolomini (Act n, Sc. 6, 11. 928 ff.), as
being out of keeping with Illo's general character.
He says : ' The elevated tone of this whole speech
is hardly in keeping with Illo's character.'
In this speech Illo makes a supreme effort to
bring Wallenstein to realize how critical is the
position in which Wallenstein and his generals are
placed. The only possible escape is through imme-
diate and decisive action. Wallenstein' s whole
career has been marked by hesitation and doubt,
which if persisted in at this critical moment will
prove fatal. Illo makes this final and supreme
appeal to bring Wallenstein to act. Illo is a
sagacious man of the world and he can see things
here in their true relation. He knows that only
an unconditional surrender of Wallenstein' s de-
structive theories in regard to astrology and only
an absolutely uncompromising attitude towards his
enemies can avert an otherwise inevitable cata-
strophe. Now is the time to bring Wallenstein out
of the darkness into which that mysterious per-
sonality was plunged, into the light of resolute
action. To act meant victory and glory ; to hesi-
tate meant an inglorious death. But how does Illo
express this ? Certainly not as he has hitherto ex-
pressed himself to Wallenstein and his generals.
Here he is transformed from a sagacious man of
the world into a subtile philosopher. His speech
is adorned with highly involved metaphors. His
trend of thought has become philosophical and
rhetorical rather than persuasive and character-
ized by a mere practical wisdom. This, to be
sure, is out of keeping with Illo's general charac-
ter. How are we to justify such an abrupt meta-
morphosis in so important a character as that of
Illo ? My answer is that Schiller, the philosopher
and the poet, has invested his character with an
element of his own idealism. Filled with the
grandeur of the tragic situation Schiller could
not refrain from putting into the mouth of his
hero this elevated passage of sublime thought,
regardless of the general character of the man.
He has perhaps violated a dramatic principle
of consistency in the character and temperament
of a personality like that of II lo; a violation
which Henrik Ibsen, for instance, never would
have allowed himself. But he has, thereby, en-
hanced the dramatic tension of the play and
cast a halo of poetry about the two figures of
Illo and Wallenstein as they stand there on the
threshold of uncertainty. This, it seems to me,
explains at least in part the discrepancy between
Illo as he is in this sublime effort and the
Illo of the commonplace world of selfish intrigue.
Schiller like all great idealists has invested his
dramatic characters with himself.
But there are other influences which were un-
doubtedly brought to bear upon Schiller's mind,
when the thought of this passage presented itself.
We know that Schiller was influenced in the
structure of Wallenstein and in a great many
individual features of the play by Goethe's Eg-
mont. In a letter to Korner, April 10, 1796,
Schiller admits this. We know he made a thor-
ough study of Egmont, criticized it severely and
prepared a new version of it for the stage in 1796.
We know also that Egmont was filled with Shake-
sperian ideas and allusions. Indeed, Goethe had
intended to write a play based upon Shakespere's
Julius Caesar. He had even progressed consid-
erably in its composition, as his letter to Schon-
born, June 1, 1774, testifies. It was Goethe's
interest in Egmont which prevented the completion
of his Julius Ccesar. But he has interwoven in
Egmont much that flavors of Shakespere's play,
which undoubtedly impressed the poet Schiller.1
Take, for instance, the scene in the second act of
Egmont where Jetter, Vansen and the peasants
discuss the matter of constitutional authority.
1 These passages are also referred to by Prof. Winkler
in his edition of Goethe's Egmont.
130
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 5.
Jetter. Schaflt uns das Buch.
Ein Burger. Ja, wir miissen's haben.
Andere. Das Buch ! das Buch !
Compare this with Julius Ccesar, Act in, Scene
2, 11. 139 ff. in Mark Antony's famous funeral
oration :
Fourth Oit. We'll hear the will ; read it, Mark Antony.
AU. The will, the will I We will hear Caesar's
will.
And farther on in the same scene :
AU. The will ! the testament !
Also Egmont, Act n, where Egmont disperses the
rabble and bids each one to return to his own
peaceful occupation :
Egmont. Geht aus einander, geht an euer Gewerbe. Es
ist ein ubles Zeichen, wenn ihr an Werktagen
feiert, etc.
Compare this with the opening lines of Julius
Ccesar where the tribune Flavins scatters a rabble
of citizens with the following words :
' Hence ! home, you idle creatures, get you home :
Is this a holiday ? What ! know you not,
Being mechanical, you ought not walk
Upon a laboring day, without the sign
Of your profession ? Speak, what trade art thou ?'
Also Egmont, Act iv, where Vansen compares the
Duke of Alva not to "einer dickbauchigen
(Spinne), die sind weniger schlimm, aber so
einer langfussigen, schmalleibigen, die vom Frasse
nicht feist wird und recht du'nne Faden zieht aber
desto zahere."
Compare this with Julius Ccesar, Act I, Sc. 2,
11. 192-195:
Ccesar. Let me have men about me that are fat,
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o' nights ;
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look ;
He thinks too much : such men are dangerous.
Further, Egmont, Act v, where Kliirchen makes
her animated appeal to her fellow country-men.
She says : ' ' Da hobt ihr eure Kinder auf der
Thiirschwelle in die Hohe und deutetet ihnen :
"Sieh, das ist Egmont, derGrosste da : Er ist's!"
Compare this with Julius Ccesar, Act i, Sc. 1,
11. 40 ff. , in the speech of the tribune Marullus to
the people :
' Many a time and oft
Have you climbed up to walls and battlements,
To towers and windows, yea, to chimney tops,
Your infants in your arms, and there have sat
The live-long day with patient expectation
To see great Pompey pass the streets of Eome :' etc.
To return to Schiller : Wallenstein was strongly
influenced by Egmont, and Egmont in turn by
Julius Ccesar. Therefore, it is not strange that
the tragedy of Julius Ccesar impressed itself
strongly upon Schiller's mind during the com-
position of Wallenstein. In the passage under
consideration (Piceolomini, Act n, Scene 6, 11.
928 ff.), a tremendous question is raised, a ques-
tion which may be applied to all men under all
possible conditions. It is a question of universal
import ; when life's crisis has come, when the
tidal wave of life is about to break, whether we
shall be equal to the situation and be able to seize
the garland of victory from the hand of circum-
stance. The thought is Shakesperian in its uni-
versality and in the tremendous scope of its sig-
nificance. When we consider the remarkable
similarity in the general thought of this passage
with that expressed by Shakespeare in Julius
Ccesar (Act iv, Sc. 3, 11. 218-224), as well as
the coincidence in metaphors in both Shakespere
and Schiller, we cannot, I believe, deny that we
have here traces of Shakesperian influence ; espe-
cially in view of the facts recorded above. Let
us compare the two passages :
Schiller, Piecolomini, Act n, Sc. 6, 11. 928 ff. :
" O ! nimm der Stunde wahr, eh sie entschliipft,
So selten kommt der Augenblick im Leben,
Der wahrhaf t wichtig ist und gross. Wo eine
Entscheidung soil geschehen, da muss vieles
Sich gliicklich treffen und zusammenfinden —
Und einzeln nur, zerstreuet zeigen sich
Des Gluckes Fiiden, die Gelegenheiten,
Die, nur in einen Lebenspunkt zusammen-
Gedriingt, den schweren Friichteknoten bilden.
Sieh, wie entscheidend, wie verhiingnisvoll
Sich's jetzt um dich zusammenzieht," etc.
Shakespere, Julius Ccesar, Act iv, Sc. 3, 11.
218-224. Brutus in urging Cassius on to de-
cisive action says :
' There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
May, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
131
On such a full sea are we now afloat ;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures,' — etc.
If we compare the two passages carefully we
shall see that Illo's speech is simply another ren-
dering of Brutus' s. But it is rather a philosoph-
ical and rhetorical rendering of Shakespere's
thoughts. We have Shakespere here, ' ' verschil-
lert," so to speak. Even though such a passage
far outreaches the prosaic temper of Illo's mind,
Schiller could not refrain from making him ex-
press such a sublime thought. At this point it
was that Shakespere guided Schiller. The grand
thought of Brutus upon the same question of life
loomed up before the poet and led him to idealize
the thought in Illo's prosaic mind. The tempta-
tion was too great for such a sensitive poet as
Friedrich Schiller.
Notice that further along in this same speech
Illo employs the same general metaphor which
Brutus does. He speaks of 'the high tide which
lifts the heavy ship from the strand,' (11. 945-
946, "die hohe Flut ist's, die das schwere Schiff
vom Strande hebt"), even as Brutus says :
' There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune."
When, in this same speech, Illo rebukes Wal-
lenstein for his superstitious reliance upon as-
trology and urges him instead to rely upon self,
for ' within his own breast were the stars of his
destiny '
(11. 961-962 : Glaub' mir
In deiner Brust sind deines Schicksals Sterne):
we inevitably turn to the same thought in Julius
Ccesar. In speaking of great Csesar's destiny
Cassius says (Julius Ccesar, Act i, Sc. 2, 11. 139-
141):
' Men at some time are masters of their fates :
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.'
To be sure, Schiller expresses the same idea else-
where, for this is by no means a thought confined
to Shakespere or foreign to those who believe in
the agency of free will. In the Jungfrau von
Orleans (Act in, Sc. 4, 11. 2134-5) where Sorel
demands of the Jungfrau a prophecy of her own
destiny the Jungfrau refuses to give it on the
ground that such a destiny lies within Sorel's
own self to fulfill. She says :
"Mir zeigt der Geist nur grosse Weltgeschicke ;
Dein Schicksal ruht in deiner eignen Brust."
I believe that these parallel passages in both
Wallenstein and the Jungfrau go back originally
to the thought expressed in Shakespere's Julius
Ccesar, with which Schiller was undoubtedly
familiar during the time of the composition of
Wallenstein.
When we consider how this whole speech of
Illo (11. 928 ff. ) is a mere modification or trans-
formation of a Shakesperian idea in Julius Ccemr,
we are inevitably led to the conclusion that Illo's
next words (11. 961-962) must likewise have had
their origin in Julius Ccesar since they bear such
a striking resemblance to the thought expressed
by Cassius in the same play (Act i, Sc. 2).
Indeed Wallenstein himself is twice compared
to Csesar, once by Max Piccolomini and once
by himself. In Wallenstein' s Tod (Act n, Sc. 2,
11. 733-735), Max compares Wallenstein to the
fixed star of the north which has always served
him as an unswerving guide in the conduct of his
life :—
" Ziemtsolche Sprache mir
Mil dir, der, wie der feste Stern des Pols,
Mir als die Lebensregel vorgeschienen ! "
even as great Csesar himself says (Julius Ccesar,
Act m, Sc. 1, 11. 60-63) :
" But I am constant as the northern star
Of whose true-fixed and resting quality,
There is no fellow in the firmament."
When Max accuses Wallenstein of high treason,
Wallenstein defends his action by referring to the
example of great Ccesar, whose act of treason
resulted in his greatness. He feels himself akin
to Caesar at this decisive moment of his life. He
says (Tod, Act n, Sc. 2, 11. 835-843):
"Was thu' ich Schlimmres
Als jener Casar that, des Name noch
Bis heut' das Hochste in der Welt benennet?
Er fiihrte wider Horn die Legionen,
Die Bom ihm zur Beschiitzung anvertraut.
Warf or das Schwert von sich, er war verloren,
Wie ich es wiir' , wenn ich entwaffuete.
Ich spiire was in mir von eeinem Geist ;
Gieb mir sein Gliick ! Das andre will ich tnigen."
132
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
The influence of Shakespere's Julius Cxsar,
therefore, is found in Schiller's Wallenstein at a
point where the universal import of both dramas
coincide. Caesar was great because he made his
own greatness. He ' took the tide at the flood
and rode on to fortune.' Wallenstein 'omitted
to take the tide at the flood and the voyage of his
life was bound in shallows and in miseries.' The
fate of both men lay ' not in their stars but within
their own hearts.'
ALBERT MOEEY STURTEVANT.
Kansas University.
AN EARLY ANALOGUE OF CHAUCER'S
PRIORESSES TALE.
In his article, "Chaucer's Prioresses Tale and
its Analogues," ' published in 1906, Professor C.
F. Brown has made so exhaustive a study of the
group of stories which have as their theme the
murder of a boy by the Jews and the miracle
wrought by the Virgin for his mother's sake, that
it may well seem unnecessary to pursue the sub-
ject further. His study, however, leaves the ori-
gin of the legend in the dark, except that he con-
jectures a primary version, ' ' which can hardly
have been later than the twelfth century," with
its home ' ' either in Germany or in the Nether-
lands. ' ' * Whether or not the latter statement be
accepted, the former is most reasonable, as is his
further suggestion that ' ' the authors of these thir-
teenth century collections became acquainted with
this legend through oral transmission."
Back of such hypothetical versions, unless the
general course of legends was not followed by this
particular one, it is altogether probable that at
least the materials of the story had long been in
existence. The discovery of them would not only
throw considerable light on the genesis of the
miracle, as the tale came to such writers as
Csesarius of Heisterbach and Thomas Cantimpr6,
but it would considerably assist in the classification
of later variants. For these reasons I may per-
haps be pardoned for suggesting as an analogue
*Publ. Mod. Lang. Association of America, XXI, 486-518.
aP. 499. "P. 500.
of Chaucer's story a miraculous tale that, at best,
is only remotely related to it.
In the first book * of his Miraeula, the justly
celebrated De gloria martyrum, written between
586 and 590, Gregory of Tours relates a miracle
that took place at St. Maurice (Agaunum) in
Switzerland, fourteen miles from the head of
Lake Leman, where was situated the shrine of
St. Mauritius and his companions of the Theban
Legion. I copy part of the chapter that con-
cerns us.
' ' Magna est etiam virtus ad antedictorum mar-
tyrum sepulcra, de quibus relictis pluribus pauca
perstringere libuit. Mulier qusedam filium suum
unicum ad hoc monasterium adducens, abbati tra-
didit erudiendum, videlicet ut factus clericus,
sanctis manciparetur officiis. Verum cum jam
spiritalibus eruditus esset in litteris, et cum reli-
quis clericis in choro caneutium psallerat, modica
pulsatus febre, spiritum exhalavit. Cucurrit
mater orbata ad obsequium funeris plangens, se-
pelivitque filium. Verumtamen non suffecerunt
hse lacrymse dolori, quso in exsequiis sunt effusse :
sed per dies siugulos veniebat, et super sepulcrum
nati sui, emissis in altum vocibus, ejulabat. Cui
tandem apparens per visum noctis beatus Mauri-
cius, ait : Quid tu, o mulier, incessanter filii obi-
turn plangens, nunquam desistis a luctu ? Cui
ilia : Dies, inquit, vitse mese hunc planctum non
explent ; sed dum advixero, semper deflebo uni-
cum meum, nee unquam mitigabor a lacrymis,
donee oculos corporis hujus debitamors concludat.
Cui ille : Noli ita, ait, quasi mortuum flere, sed
aequanimiter age, nam scias eum nobiscum habi-
tare, et sedentem 6 vitse perennis consortio nostro
perfrui. Et ut veraciter credas certa esse quse
loquor, surge crastina die ad matitutinum, et au-
dies vocem ejus inter chores psallentium mona-
chorurn. Et non solum die crastina, sed etiam
omnibus diebus vitse tuse, cum veneris audies in
psallentio vocem ejus ; ideoque ne fleveris, eo
quod gaudere te oporteat potius quam lugere.
Surgit mulier, longaque ducit suspiria, nee obdor-
mit in stratu suo, donee signum ad consurgendum
commoveatur a monachis : quo commoto, accedit
ad ecclesiam, aliqua de visione quam viderat pro-
batura. Nihil enim prseteriit de pollicitatione
sancta, sed quse fuerant divinitus nuntiata, rnox
impleta noscuntur. Verum ubi cantator respon-
4 Cap. Ixxvi. Migne, Pair. curs. camp, lot., LXXI,
771-772.
6TheBollandists in A. S. S., 22 Sept., vi, 318, quoting
this miracle, give as a variant reading "sede" and add
"forte legendum est in sede."
May, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
133
sorium 6 (AL, cantato response), antiphonam
caterva suscepit monachorum, audit genetrix,
parvuli vocem cognoscit, et gratias agit Deo. Sed
et illud quod Martyris ore promissum habebatur,
prorsus impletum est, ut omnibus diebus vitse suse
cum accessisset muliar ad psallentium, vocem au-
diret hujus iafantuli inter reliqua modulamina
vocum."
The reader will observe that the only points of
correspondence between this tale and The Boy
Killed by the Jews are these : (1) the son is a
school-boy7 who has learned to sing; (2) his
mother is distracted by grief at his loss ; and (3)
she is consoled by hearing him sing after death.
There is no question, as in the later stories, of
the Virgin's intercession, for the miracle is in
praise of St. Mauritius. It lacks, moreover, the
fundamental element of Jew-baiting that doubt-
less contributed very much to the success of the
later cycle. It does seem to me, however, to sug-
gest that the genesis of Chaucer's story is to be
found in a miracle by which a grief-stricken
mother was consoled through hearing her son's
voice. If so, one should be chary of accepting
the theory, proposed by both Professors Skeat and
Brown, that the so-called "happy ending" is
necessarily the earlier. With full recognition that
the parallel is vague, I submit it to Chaucerian
students in the hope that some one may be able
to carry the history of the narrative one stage
further back.
Gregory's book was so popular that it seems
altogether likely that this particular story may
have been copied from it by many later writers.
I note that Jacobus a VoragLne, in cap. cxli of
his Legenda Aurea,s condenses the narrative, using
Gregory's words for the most part. Apparently
Petrus de Natalibus and Vincentius Bellovacensis
also took it over,9 but their works are not at
present accessible to me.
GORDON HALL GEROULD.
Princeton University.
6 Emended in A. S. S., place cited, to " cantato Kespon-
sorio."
'See C. F. Brown, "Chaucer's ' Litel Clergeon ' " in
Mod. Phil., Ill, 467-491.
8 Ed. Graesse, 3rd ed. , 1890, p. 631.
9 See Bibl. hagioyraphica latino, under Mauritius.
USE OF SUO FOR L ORO IN OLD
ITALIAN.1
Referring to Tobler's2 treatment of this ques-
tion G. Bertoni says3: " II aurait pu ajouter que,
dans un cas particulier, nos e"crivains employaient
toujours suo ; c.-a-d. quand le possessif se rap-
porte a un complement direct (accusatif ). Dans
les autres cas, 1'emploi de suo ou de loro e'tait in-
diflerent. Voici un certain nombre d'exemples
confirmant cette allegation, qui pourrait sembler
a premiere vue trop affirmative.
Petrarque e"crit (son. 310) :
Volo con 1'ali del pensiero al cielo
Si spesse volte che quasi un di loro
Esser mi par, che hann" ivi il suo tesoro.
Et Boccace (Decameron, v, 2 e"d. Fanfani n, p.
19): Poi che gli arcieri del vostro nimico avranno
il "suo " saettamento saettato et i vostri il " suo ";
tandis qu'ailleurs ils usent indiffe'remment de suo
ou de loro. ' ' Again Bertoni says 4 : "Si nos
grammairiens n'avaient pas fait erreur, en impo-
sant a 1' usage moderne une re'gle, que les anciens
textes n'autorisent pas, nous pourrions maintenant
a bon droit 6crire : ifigli vonno bene a mamma
" sua" (Tigri, Canti popol. toscani) ou bien
"loro," et devrions absolument dire avec Gua-
dagnoli : i preti son uomini e percio dovrebbero
avere la "sua" moglie e la "sua" famiglia."
The statement that early Italian writers always
used suo for loro when the noun modified by the
possessive adjective was the direct object of a verb
certainly has no authority to support it. The
examples given below show clearly that loro was
frequently used in such cases.
Orande noja mi fano i mcnzonieri
Stnprontamente dicon lor mengogne.
Chrestomazia Italiana dei primi secoli,6 per Ernesto
Monaci. Fascicolo primo. Citta di Castello, 1889,
p. 62, iv, 10.
1 For a similar usage in Old French compare Adolf
Tobler, Vermischte Seitrdge, n, 81-82.
2 See op. cit., n, 81.
8 See Zeitschriftfiir romanische Philologie, XXXI, 495.
4 See op. cit., p. 496.
6 Compare also p. 88, 42, 5 ; p. 97, IV, 7.
134
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
{Vol. xxiv, No. 5.
Nefuronfolli Anita e Palemone
Tenuti da chi seppe ifaiti loro.
La Teseide, v. 698, in Antologia delle opere minori
di Giovanni Boccaccio,* ed. by Giuseppe Gigli,
Firenze, 1907, p. 59.
Or fia 'giammai che quel bel visa santo
Senda a quest' occhi le lor luci prime ?
Rime di F. Petrarca, col comento di G. Biagioli.
Tomo primo. Parigi, 1821, p. 331 (Sonnetto
ccxiv).
Nan hanno in altro cielo i loro scanni,
Cite quegli spirti che mo fappariro,
Ni all' esser lor pttl o meno anni.
Dante,7 Par. IV, 31.
Evidently Bertoni has relied on the collections
of examples cited by grammarians aud has not
taken the trouble to examine any texts. At any
rate, the following statement would lead one to
believe that this was his method 8: " Pour justifier
cette maniere de voir, il suffit au lecteur de faire
1' application du principe que nous venous d' ex-
poser, sur les exemples de suo et loro rassembles
par les diflerents grammairiens, tels que Fabriani,
Corticelli, Fornaciari, etc., dont le premier avait
deja touch6 a cette distinction."
OLIVER M. JOHNSTON.
Leland Stanford Jr. University.
SOME DEBTS OF SAMUEL DANIEL TO
DU BELLAY.
A distinguished critic * has drawn attention in
general terms to Daniel' s debt to Du Bellay ; and
'Compare also p. 142 ( II Filocolo):
Ma Racheo, pieno di sottile avvedimente,
veggendo i loro atti, inoontanente conobbe
il nuovo f uoco acceso ne' loro cuori.
For further examples of this usage in Boccaccio compare
Giuseppe Gigli, op.cit., pp. 150, 153.
7 See Par. xiv, 79 :
Le vostre cose tutte hanno lor morte.
Compare also Inf. v, 40 , vn, 33 ; xm, 10 ; xv, 8 ; xvr,
23 ; xvn, 39 ; xvm, 89 ; xxn, 2 ; xxvn, 16 ; xxix, 72 ;
Purg. v, 27 ; xiv, 40 ; xv, 138 ; Par. V, 113 ; vi, 103.
8 See op. «X,496.
1 Sidney Lee, Preface to Elizabethan Sonnets, Vol. I, pp.
liii and liv.
in a recent thesis 2 Mr. A. H. Upham points out,
more precisely, the reflection to be found in cer-
tain sonnets of Daniel's Delia 3 of ideas in the
Antiquites de Rome and in the Regrets. It has
not however, I believe, been noted that two of
Daniel's sonnets are very close imitations of son-
nets in the Olive, one indeed an almost verbatim
rendering. The first of these is Sonnet xiv4 of
the Delia, reprinted with slight variations from
the poems appended to the Astrophel and Stella
(edition of 1591 5). Except for the final couplet,
which is Daniel's own addition, this renders ex-
actly sonnet x of the Olive: —
DANIEL.
Those snarey locks are
those same nets, my
Dear !
Wherewith my liberty,
thou didst surprise !
Love was the flame that
fired me so near :
The dart transpiercing
were those crystal eyes.
Strong is the net, and fer-
vent is the flame ;
Deep is the wound, my
sighs do well report.
Yet do I love, adore, and
praise the same
That holds, that burns, that
wounds me in this sort;
And list not seek to break,
to quench, to heal
The bond, the flame, the
wound thatfesterethso,
By knife, by liquor, or by
salve to deal :
So much I please to per-
ish in my woe.
Yet lest long travails be
above my strength ;
Good Delia! Loose,
quench, heal me, now
at length !
M. Vianey * has pointed out that Du Bellay
2 "The French Influence in English Literature from the
Accession of Elizabeth to the Restoration " (to be pub-
lished by the Macmillan Company in the series of Colum-
bia University Studies in Comparative Literature, in
1908).
'1. e., in sonnets xi and I.
4 Elizabethan Sonnets, Vol. I, p. 121.
"Ibid., Vol. i, p. 91.
6 Joseph Vianey, Les Sourcet Italiennes de I' Olive, in
Annales Internationales d'Hktoire (Paris, 1901), p. 85.
Du BELLAY.
Ces cheveux d'or sont les
liens, Madame,
Dont fut premier ma lib-
erl6 surprise,
Amour, la flamme autour
du cceur esprise.
Ces yeux, le traict qui me
transperce 1'ame.
Forts sont les noeuds, aspre
et vive la flamme,
Le coup, de main il tirer
bien apprise,
Et toutefois j'aime, j'adore
et prise
Ce qui m'estraint, qui me
brusle et entame.
Pour briser doncq', pour
esteindre et guarir
Ce dur lien, ceste ardeur,
ceste playe,
Je ne quiers fer, liqueur,
ni medecine :
L'heur et plaisir que ce
m'est de perir
De telle main ne permet
que j' essay e
Glaive trenchant, ni froi-
deur, ni racine.
May, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
135
here imitated Ariosto (sonnet vi), noting the
addition by Du Bellay of a third metaphor, —
that of flame — to the two developed by Ariosto.
The sonnet in question reads as follows :
La rete fu di queste fila d'oro,
In che il mio persier vago intricfi 1'ale,
E queste ciglia F aroo, e' 1 guardo strale
E'l feritor questi, begli ocohi foro ;
lo son ferito, io son prigiou per loro ;
La piaga 6 in mezzo al cor aspra e mortale ;
La prigion forte : e pur, in tanto male,
E chi ferimrai e chi mi prese adoro.
Per la dolce cagion del languir mio,
O del morir, se potrS, tanto il duolo,
Languendo godo e di morir disio ;
Pur ch'ella, non sapendo il piacer ch'io.
Del languir m'abbia o del morir, d'un solo
50 spir mi degni, o d'altro affetto pio.
In view of his close adherence to Du Bellay,
where the latter diverges from Ariosto — not only
in the introduction of the third metaphor, but in
the intricate development of the theme, — it be-
comes idle to point out that the French, not the
Italian, sonnet was Daniel's model.
The combination of the three metaphors used by
Du Bellay, which — so Viaiiey points out — occurs
also in a song of Gerolamo Parabosco' s, ' became
one of those pieces of common property which the
poets of the Renaissance bandied about among
themselves. Ronsard uses it in a sonnet (Amours,
i, iii) containing also the idea of the poet's pleas-
ure in his torment which Du Bellay, and after
him Daniel, took from Ariosto' s sonnet. Ronsard,
however, arranges the metaphors in a different
order :
Entre les rais de sa jumelle flame
Je veis Amour qui son aro desbandoit,
Et sus mon cceur le brandon espandoit
Qui des plus f roids les mouelles enflame,
Puis ca, puis la, pre's les yeux de ma dame,
Entre cent fleurs un ret d'or me tendoit,
Qui tout crespu blondement descendoit
A flots ondez, pour enlacer mon ame.
fu'eusse'-je faict? L'archer estoit si doux,
51 doux son feu, si doux 1'or de sea nouds,
Qu'en leurs filets encore je m'oublie ;
Mais cest oubly ne me tourmente point,
Tant doucement le doux archer me poingt.
Le feu me brusle et 1'or crespe me lie.
In another place (Amours, i, xvii) Ronaard,
while replacing the metaphor of the dart by that
of seizure, and leading up to a different conclu-
sion, again strongly recalls Du Bellay 's sonnet,
above all in the intricate repetition of ideas :
Par un destin dedans mon cceur demeure
L'ceil, et la main, et le poil delie1,
Qui m'ont si fort brusle', serr<5, lie1,
Qu'ars, prins, lace1, par eux faut que je meure.
Le feu, la serre et le ret, a toute heure
Ardent, pressant, noiiant mon amitu',
Occise aux pieds de ma fiere moitie',
Font par sa mort ma vie estre meilleure.
Oeil, main et poil, qui bruslez et gennez,
Et enlacez mon cceur que vous tenez
Au labyrint de vostre crespe voye,
H4 ! que ne suis-je ovide bien disant ?
Oeil, tu serois un bel astre luisant ;
Main, un beau lis ; poil, un beau ret de soye.
Desportes, too, in a sonnet (Diane, i, xlvii),
otherwise dissimilar from Du Bellay' s, repeats the
three metaphors in somewhat the same style :
Helas 1 je suis tousjours en obscure prison ;
Helas ! je sens tousjours une brulante flame ;
Helas ! un trait mortel sans relache m'entame,
Serrant, brulant, navrant, esprit, ame et raison.
In yet another sonnet (Diane, i, xi) Desportes
outdoes Ronsard by the addition of a fourth meta-
phor to the three in the last quoted sonnet of the
latter :
Du bel ceil de Diane est ma flamme empruntee,
En ses nceux blonds dorez mon cceur est arrest^,
Sa main victorieuse a pris ma liberte',
Et sa douce parole a mon ame enchanted.
Son ceil rend la splendeur des astres surmontde,
Ses cheveux du soleil ternissent la beautd,
Sa main passe 1'yvoire, et la divinit4
De ses sages discours a bon droit est vantee.
Son bel ceil me ravit, son poil dor^ me tient,
La rigueur de sa main mes douleurs entretient,
Et par son doux parler je sens croistre ma flame.
Ainsi tourne ma vie, et n'ai plus de repos
Depuis 1' heure qu' amour m'engrava dedans 1'ame
Son ceil, son poil, sa main, et ses divins propos.
The second sonnet which Daniel plainly owes to
Du Bellay is Sonnet xi of those inserted in the
Astrophel and Stella of 1591." Only the eighth
and fourteenth lines, and the substitution of
" Hyrcan tigers and ruthless bears" for "lions"
are Daniel's own, and the only lines of Du Bel-
7 1 have been unable to a vail myself of it for comparison. 8Cf. Sidney Lee, Elizabethan Sonnets, Vol. I, p. 94.
ise
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
lay's sonnet (Olive, xci) which he omits are the
sixth, part of the second, and— for an obvious
reason— the twelfth. Even the changes in order
are of the slightest :
[Vol. xxiv, No. 5.
DANIEL.
Kestore thy treasure to the
golden ore !
Yield Cytherea's son those
arks of love !
Bequeath the heavens, the
stars that I adore I
And to the Orient do thy
pearls remove !
Yield thy hands' pride
unto the ivory white !
To Arabian odour give thy
breathing sweet !
Kestore thy blush unto
Aurora bright !
To Thetis give the honour
of thy feet !
Let Venus have the graces
she resigned !
And thy sweet voice yield
toHermonius' spheres!
But yet restore thy fierce
and cruel mind
To Hyrcan tigers and to
ruthless bears !
Yield to the marble thy
hard heart again !
So shalt thou cease to
plague, and I to pain !
Du BELLAY.
Eendez a 1'or ceste couleur
qui dore
Ces blonds cheveux, rendez
mil' autres choses,
A 1'Orient tant de perles
encloses
Et au soleil ces beaux yeui
que j'adore.
Eendez ces mains ay blanc
yvoire encore,
Ce sein au marbre, et ces
levres aux roses,
Ces doux souspirs aux fieu-
rettes decloses,
Et ce beau sein i la ver-
meille Aurore.
Eendez aussi al'amour tous
ces traits,
Et a Venus ses graces et
attraits :
Eendez aux cieux leur
ce'leste hannonie.
Eendez encor ce doux nom
& son arbre,
Ou aux rochers rendez ce
coeur de marbre.
Et aux lions cest humble
felonnie.
Vianey' has shown that Du Bellay went for
this sonnet to Bernardino Tomitano (Giolito, n,
p. 39), and he quotes the original :
L'alto, chiaro, immortal, vivo splendore,
Ch'd nei vostr" occhi e nel sereno viso,
Donna, rendete al' sole, e al paradiso
I pensier casti e' 1 suo natio valore.
Eendete a me la libertate e '1 core,
Che da me havete si Ionian diviso,
A Cipri bella il bel soave riso,
L'arco e li strali al mio aversario Amore.
De la soavi angeliche parole
La celeste harmonia rendete al cielo,
L'odor, 1'oro e le perle a 1'Oriente,
Ch' altro non sera in voi, che 1'ire sole
Co vostri feri sdegni, che sovente
Mi fan d'huom vivo adamantine gelo.
Here, too, it is more than evident that Daniel
• Op. tit., pp. 100, 101.
either did not know the Italian original, or,
knowing it, ignored it and preferred to follow
Du Bellay step by step.
In yet another sonnet (No. in, of those in-
cluded in the Astrophel and Stella), Daniel, while
making use of a comparison which was a com-
monplace of the Renaissance,10 as well as of the
Middle Ages,— that of himself to the reviving
Phoenix, —seems to follow Du Bellay (Olive,
xxxvi) in his treatment of it : —
DANIEL.
The only bird alone that
nature frames,
When weary of the tedi-
ous life she lives
By fire dies, yet finds new
life in flames ;
Her ashes to her shape
new essence give.
When only I, the only
wretched wight,
Weary of life that
breathes but sorrow's
blasts ;
Pursue the flame of such a
beauty bright,
That burns my heart ;
and yet my life still
lasts.
O sovereign light ! that
with thy sacred flame
Consumes my life, revive
me after this !
And make me (with the
happy bird) the same
That dies to live, by
favour of thy bliss !
This deed of thine will
show a goddess' power ;
In so long death to grant
one living hour.
DTT BELLAY. »
L'unicq' oyseau (miracle
esmerveillable)
Par feu se tiie ennuye" de sa
vie :
Puis quand son ame est par
flammes ravie,
Des cendres naist un autre
ft luy semblable.
Et moy qui suis 1' unique
miserable,
FascIuS de vivre, une flamme
ay suivie,
Dont conviendra bien tost
que je devie
Si par pi tie" ne 'm'estes
secourable.
O grand' douceur ! o bcnte"
souveraine
Si tu ne veux dure et inhu-
maine estre
Sous ceste face angelique et
seraine,
Puis qu'ay pour toy du
Pheenix le semblant,
Fay qu'en tous points je
lui sois ressemblant,
Tu me feras de moy-mesme
renaistre.
Sidney Lee considers still another sonnet of
Daniel's (Delia, xxxvin) as founded upon one
of Du Bellay' s (Amours, x) ; but here the debt
is less obvious ; especiallly as its theme was one
BO common with the poets of the Renaissance :— -
10 Compare, for example, Desportes (Diane, n, xv) :
Vous estes le soleil qui me donnez le jour,
Et je suis le phcenix qui se brule alentour ;
Puis, quand je suis brule, je renais de ma cendre.
11 Vianey has found no Italian original for this sonnet.
May, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
137
DANIEL.
Thou canst not die, whilst
any zeal around
In feeling hearts, that can
conceive these lines :
Though thou, a Laura, hast
no Petrarch found ;
In base attire, yet, clearly
beauty shines,
And I, though born within
a colder clime,
Do feel mine inward heat
as great (I know it).
He never had more faith,
although more rhyme :
I love as well, though he
could better show it.
But I may add one feather
to thy fame,
To help her flight
throughout the fairest
isle ;
And if my pen could more
enlarge thy name,
Then should'st thou live
in an immortal style.
For though that Laura bet-
ter limned be ;
Suffice, thou shalt be loved
as well as she !
Du BELLAY.
Vous avez bien cest' ange-
licque face,
Ce front serein, et ces
celestes yeulx,
Que Laure auoit, et si auez
bien mieux
Portant le nom d'une plus
noble race.
Mais ie n'ay pas ceste
diuine grace.
Ces haults discours, ces
traicts ingenieux,
Qu'auoit Petrarque, et
moins audacieux
Mon vol aussi tire une
aile plus basse.
Pourquoy de moy avous
done souhaitte1,
D'estre sacree 3, 1'immor-
talite',
Si vostre nom d'un seul
Petrarque est digne :
Ie ne scay pas d'ou vient
ce desir la,
Fors qu' il vous plaist nous
monstrer par cela,
Que d'un Corbeau vous
pouuez faire un Cygne.
Ill fact, though Daniel's sonnet contains the
opening idea of Du Bellay's, i. e., the comparison
of his lady to Laura and the depreciation of his
own gifts as compared to Petrarch's, yet the
lines expressing the poet's conviction that his love
if not his genius, equals Petrarch' s are closer to
Desportes, who thus ends a poem on the same sub-
ject " :
Celle qui dans ses yeux tient mon contentement,
La passant en beaute1, luy cede seulement
En ce qu'un moindre esprit la veut rendre immortelle.
Mais j'ay plus d'amitie', s'il fut mieux ecrivant,
Car sa Laure mourut et il resta vivant ;
Si ma dame mouroit, je mourrois avec elle.
Again, the image of the flight of fame suggests
its finer predecessor at the end of Ronsard's son-
nets (Amours, i, Ixxii) :
Si vive encor Laure par 1'univers
Ne fuit volant dessus les thusques vers,
Que nostre siecle heureusement estime,
Comme ton nom, houneur des vers francois,
Victorieux des peuples et des rois,
S'en-voleroit sus 1'aile de ma ryme.
""Pour mettredevant un Pelrarque," "Diverges Amours,"
ed. Michiels, 1858, p. 427.
This sonnet, then, can hardly be regarded as a
serious debt to Du Bellay on Daniel's part.
On the whole, we may conclude that Daniel's
admiration of Du Bellay appears rather in close-
ness of imitation in special cases, than in the dif-
fusion throughout his poems of any general influ-
ence such as, for example, the poetry of Ronsard,
appears to have exercised upon the whole body of
the Delia.
G. RUUTZ-REES.
Columbia University.
BEN JONSON'S GRAMMAR.
' ' The English Grammar, made by Ben Johnson
for the benefit of all strangers, out of his observa-
tion of the English Language, now spoken and in
use." So stands the title page, in the folio of
1640, of Jonson's Grammar. The whole work is
comprised in pages 30-84, between the translation
of Horace's Ars Poeiica and the Discoveries. Pub-
lisht three years after Jonson's death it comes to
us without his proof corrections, and, tho we take
no liberties with its statements, we must wish that
Jonson himself could have seen the possibilities for
amendment that stand out in the cold print. We
would perhaps sacrifice some of the learned pas-
sages on the letters for an expansion of Book n,
on Syntax as far as it had been reduced to rule by
the Elizabethans ; and gladly exchange Gower
and Lidgate for the existing usage of Shakespeare
or Jonson themselves.
Fragmentary and unsatisfactory it certainly is ;
and yet with all its omissions and incompleteness,
we cannot spare it. Though we may find his
reference to the Latin as authority for our alpha-
bet, phonetically as well as orthographically, some-
what tedious and of doubtful value ; though we
may be a little impatient of his consideration of
English as written for foreigners, and wish that
his notes on syntax were fuller ; still this gram-
mar attracts the student by its sturdy effort to
write down the honest truth about the English
language in the seventeenth century, so far as
known or reducible to system. And if, in his
desire ' ' to free it from the opinion of rudeness
and barbarism," Jonson has not given us the
complete treatment of the syntactical license of
138
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 5.
Elizabethan English that we are always looking
for, still we are grateful for such record of six-
teenth century English as is given. It is a mile-
stone in the History of the English Language. It
marks a stage not otherwise noted by Elizabethan
writers, or by the students of the Stuart reigns.
For the student of the development of our lan-
guage it is a helpful document of that period ;
and for the general student, watching the drift of
language from Chaucer to Henry James, the
Grammar of Ben Jonson is a monument not to
be passed by.
Beginning with the alphabet, Jonson examines
source after source of the elements of speech, from
the Latin and Greek grammarians. In some cases
he compares his Latin authorities with what
Smithus has set down from the Anglo-Saxon, thus
trying to establish our vowels and consonants on
a firm foundation, and to elevate plain English
Smith to the rank of a classical authority. Jon-
son's many quotations from Scaliger, Terentianus,
and Quinctilian look learned and imposing in the
Latin. When we have them translated they seem
rather simple. Indeed we should quickly pass
over the end of Chapter n, " The figure is an
Accident," if it were not reenforced by the Latin
from " Jul. Cses. Seal." ;'Figura autem est ac-
cidens ab arte iustitutum ; potestque attributa
mutari. ' ' Then it seems to have attained impor-
tance, English speech is at once establisht on a
basis that has the dignity of history, and of
grammar.
In the folio of 1640 the Latin stands facing the
English text ; vowel by vowel, consonant over
against consonant.
' ' All our vowels are sounded doubtfully. ' '
' ' Omnes vocales ancipites sunt. ' '
" L is a letter half-vowelish."
' ' Qui nescit, quid sit esse Semi-vocalem, ex
nostra lingua facile poterit discere. ' '
With many another and more involved passage
the Latin and the English come marching down
upon us from 1640 hand in hand. This equality
of rank Gifford and Cunningham, in their edi-
tions, have obscured, by reducing the Latin to the
place of footnotes, or of parenthetical remark. The
double-page arrangement more truly gives us the
mental attitude of the scholars of that day, as seen
in Jonson and Bacon. Bacon supervises the trans-
lation of his essays into Latin, with the hope of
thus preserving them to posterity. He writes of
them as "made more perfect, well translated into
Latin by the help of some good pens which forsake
me not. For these modern languages will at one
time or other, play the bankrupt with books : and
since I have lost much time with this age, I would
be glad, as God shall give me leave, to recover it
with posterity." One of these " good pens " was
that of " Mr. Benjamin Johnson (the learned and
judicious poet)," according to the testimony of
Archbishop Tenison, 1679.
In the Discoveries we see how entirely Jonson' s
taste was directed by his studies in classical liter-
ature. They sometimes echo the classical quota-
tions from the Grammar. We find our ' ' Consue-
tudo, certissima loquendi magistra, utendumque
plane sermone, ut numero cui publica forma est ' '
which stands in the majesty of its Latin on the title-
page of the English Grammar, freely translated to
introduce a remark on style in the Discoveries :
" Custom is the most certain mistress of language,
as the public stamp makes the current money.
But we must not be too frequent with the mint,
every day coining, nor fetch words from the ex-
treme and utmost ages : since the chief virtue of
a style is perspicuity, and nothing so vicious in it
as to need an interpreter. Words borrowed of
antiquity do lend a kind of majesty to style and
are not without their delight sometimes. ' '
As grammars, the Latin and the Greek are the
only authorities Jonson finds worth quoting. The
modern tongues, French, German, and Italian,
he uses ; but only as a body of material for com-
parison with English, illustrating mere usage and
not authority.
Though Jonson quotes Sir Thorn as Smith on the
usage of the Anglo-Saxons, it is as of a remote
ancestry and that somewhat barbaric. According
to a note by Cunningham, Jonson had a Saxon
Grammar and a Welsh ; but there is no evidence
in his own work that he had made any research
into the Anglo-Saxon, or had any further knowl-
edge than his references to the runes for th and w.
We may notice throughout the Grammar, aside
from the direct quotations, how much Jouson's
thought followed the bent given by his classical
reading ; as in his adherence to syllabe for syl-
lable ; his elaborate play on breath and spirit
(Chapter 4, H.):
May, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
139
"H. whether it be a letter or no, hath been
much examined by the ancients and by some too
much of the Greek party condemned, and thrown
out of the alphabet as an aspirate merely, and in
request only before vowels in the beginning of
words, when it added a strong spirit which the
Welsh retain after many consonants. But be it
a letter or spirit we have great use for it in our
tongue. ' '
Again, in his close of Chapter 6 Jonson endeavors
to bring English to an equality with Latin and
Greek in rhythm :
" Not that I would have the vulgar and prac-
tised way of making abolished and abdicated
(being both sweet and delightful, and much
taking to the ear) but to the end our tongue
may be made equal to those of the renowned
countries Italy and Greece, touching this par-
ticular."
This apologetic attitude toward our English
rhythm recalls the efforts of the Areopagus, and
may be but another expression of what Sidney
and Spenser had tried to accomplish in English
verse.
If the Grammar were so closely modeled on the
Latin in all its parts, and if the native genius of
Jonson did not overtop his classical studies, giving
vitality to his work, the book might perish with-
out any one's lifting a voice to call it back from
oblivion. But even in the discussion of letters as
letters, we are struck by the lively play of figure,
invigorating his style. It is the same vivid per-
sonality which turns the Discoveries from a mere
commonplace book of quotations into a com-
mentary on the literary times that is a significant
part of Ben Jonson himself. So in Chapter 4,
in considering the reduplication of sounds in k, e,
q, he breaks forth in figure :
" Q is a letter we might very well spare in our
alphabet, if we would but use the serviceable k
as he should be, and restore him to the reputation
he had with our forefathers. For the English
Saxons knew not this halting Q with her waiting
woman u after her." "W. has the seat of a
consonant."
The letter H. may not be "the queen-mother
of consonants ; yet she is the life and quickening
of them." So too, "Time and person are the
right and left hand of a verb." The first con-
jugation is "the common inn to lodge every
stranger and foreign guest. " "I. would ask to
enjoy another character." And twice Jonson
uses the figure translated from Scaliger that
prosody and grammar are diffused like the blood
and spirits through the whole : Book I, Chap. 1 ;
Book n, Chap. 9.
The Board of Simplified Spelling in our own
day could not speak more strongly than Jonson
does of our ' ' pseudography ' ' ; the unphonetic
quality of some of our superfluous letters, and the
overworked part that others play ; as in his re-
marks quoted above on q and k and his severe
comment on the illogical nature of our orthog-
raphy, though he has no hope that it can be
amended. Of mickle, pickle, he writes, "which
were better written without the c, if that which
we have received for orthography would yet be
contented to be altered. But that is an emenda-
tion rather to be wished than hoped for, after so
long a reign of ill custom amongst us." Again
of -gh in cough, might, he recalls our present
spelling reform. "For the g sounds nothing,"
he says, ' ' only the writer was at leisure to add a
superfluous letter, as there are too many in our
pseudography."
In his observations on Syntax, Jonson makes
some points developed by later students of usage,
though he fails to carry them out. He notes
that order is a governing principle of Syntax ;
but he merely notes the fact, adding little to his
incidental comment in the Discoveries, "Order
helps much to perspicuity as confusion hurts."
And in the agreement of pronouns with nouns
(Book n, Chap. 2) he says, "And in this con-
struction (as also throughout the whole English
Syntax) order and the placing of words is one
special thing to be observed." " The syntax of
conjunctions is in order only." To show how
order is a governing principle of syntax was left
to the nineteenth century.
Jonson gives us a different perspective on the
passing of some forms that we have been inclined
to relegate to Chaucer's day. If there was in the
seventeenth century a chance of holding to -en for
the plural of the verbs, the passing of that form
seems within easy call.
" In former times," writes Jonson, Chap. 16,
Of a Verb, " till about the reign of Henry VIII
140
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 5.
they (plurals) were ivont to be formed by adding
-en ; thus loven, sayen, complainen. But now
(whatsoever is the cause) it hath grown quite out
of use, and that other so prevailed that I dare
not set this foot again ; albeit (to tell you my
opinion) I am persuaded that the lack hereof
well considered will be found a great blemish to
our tongue. For seeing time and person be, as
it were, the right and left hand of a verb, what
can the maiming bring else, but a lameness of the
whole body."
Though he writes thus strongly in favor of the
old plural, Jonson himself did not fly in the face
of a custom already established, even though re-
cently, to the extent of using the -en plural of
verbs in his plays with the freedom that other
Elizabethans did. As Shakespeare in Midsum-
mer Night's Dream, ii. 1,
"And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh,
And waxen in their mirth,"
or Spenser, Faery Queene, in. 4, 15,
"Words fearen babes" —
The Shepheardes Calender, May,
" Thilke same bene shepheardes for the Devil's stedde,
That playen while theyr flockes be unfedde."
"Of other, that caren as little as they."
The transition from the use of the third person
singular of the verb in -th to -a is interesting. In
his Chapter 16, Of a Verb, Jonson notes the
change. ' ' The second and third person singular
of the present are made of the first, by adding est
and eth ; which last is sometimes shortened into z
or s," a change which he frequently illustrates in
this work as well as in his plays. Speaking of
0, "It holds up and is sharp where it ends the
word or syllable," and in the same discussion,
"It varie£/i the sound." His -eth ending is more
frequent, though inconsistent, closely associated
with the s ending. In his Masque, Pan's Anni-
versary,
" His moon now riseth and invites,"
and again in the Masque of Augurs,
' ' See, Heaven expected my return,
The forked fire begins to burn,
Jove beckons me to come."
Had the eighteenth century writers kept sight of
Ben Jonson 's Grammar they need not have gone
astray after their possessives as they did. " The
Genitive plural is all one with the plural abso-
lute," which Jonson writes without an apos-
trophe ; then he adds an exception not enforced
by later usage, and subjoins, ' ' which distinction
not observed brought in first the monstrous syntax
of the pronoun his joining with a noun betoken-
ing a possessor ; as the prince his house, for the
princes house." Writing on this same subject,
Professor Lounsbury says, "A somewhat peculiar
use of his to take the place of the ending of the
genitive case developed itself in Old English, and
prevailed somewhat extensively in the early por-
tion of the Modern English Period. We can see
it exemplified in the following passage from
Shakespeare's fifty-fifth Sonnet,
' Nor Mars his sword nor War's quick fire shall burn,
The living record of your memory.'
Traces of this usage can be discovered even in
Anglo-Saxon. In the first text of Layamon,
written about 1200, it occurs rarely, but is fre-
quently found in the second text, supposed to be
about fifty years later. But it was not till the
sixteenth century that it began to appear often. ' '
— T. R. Lounsbury, English Language, p. 281.
Ben Jonson' s Grammar is interesting then to
the present age, not only for what it classifies as
the practice of the time, but as in itself giving
' ' the abstract of the time. " " Little more than
a rough draft," it yet furnishes an invaluable
document of English as far as it was then reduced
to a system, and it repays the study of the present
time as the best exponent of theory and usage in
combination, from the writers of Elizabethan
times.
ALICE VINTON WAITE.
Welleslcy College.
SCANDINAVIAN LITERATURE.
HENRIK IBSEN : Brand. Et Dramatisk Digt.
Edited with Introduction and Notes by JULIUS
E. OLSON, Professor of Scandinavian Lan-
guages and Literatures in the University of
Wisconsin. Chicago : John Anderson Pub-
lishing Co., 1908. Ivi + 349 pp.
Professor Julius Olson's edition of Brand is, in
every way, a welcome publication — chiefly, per-
May, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
141
haps, to teachers of Norwegian : 'it is hoped,'
says the editor, ' that it may also be found of as-
sistance to the rapidly increasing number of men
and women outside of academic circles who are
attempting either to maintain or to acquire a
knowledge of the language of Ibsen. '
By way of introduction, Olson presents an ably
condensed story of Ibsen's life previous to his
exile, with special reference to the experiences
and works that are the necessary presuppositions
for the composition of Brand which ' is the great
central fact of Ibsen's life and authorship . . .
Brand would not be a great work of literature, if
it could not be read and enjoyed without any
knowledge of the life of the author and the par-
ticular circumstances under which it was written.
. . . But in the case of Brand, especially, the
difficulties and seeming incongruities of the poem
are cleared by a knowledge of its author's strug-
gles, and an appreciation of the whole work is
correspondingly enhanced "... and ' All the
paths of his preceding life lead to Rome, so to
say, and find their culmination in Brand.'
Following this, we are given a critical estimate
of the sesthetical value of the poem, and a con-
servative interpretation of its main strands of
meaning. This portion of the book is a highly
useful epitome, within reasonable limits, of the
best in the voluminous literature that has sprung
up around the poem. It is a great pity, how-
ever, that the editor had not, as I am informed,
sufficient time to work into it the results of Karl
Larsen's study of the recently found ' Epical
Brand ' which is important, by no means only to
literateurs, but throws a flood of lighten Ibsen's
poetic methods and the (hitherto unknown) gen-
esis of the poem. Moreover, it is to be regretted
that no selections are furnished from the fragment
itself (besides the weighty introductory poem ' Till
de Medskyldige, ' printed in the appendix); for it
does contain passages of striking beauty and elo-
quence that have not been incorporated into the
drama, though, to be sure, as a whole it is vastly
inferior to the poem in its present dramatic shape.
A future edition will, undoubtedly, make good
the deficiency in this respect ; and also, by the
way, correct the formal inelegance of quoting the
sources, now in the original, now in English. A
somewhat more fastidious taste might also prefer
as frontispiece Werenskjold' s or Eilif Petersen's
painting of the poet in his vigorous manhood to
the photograph of Ibsen in his old age.
The most interesting and valuable portion of
the work for the Ibsen student will, unquestion-
ably, be the notes, furnishing a running linguistic
and interpretative commentary on the more diffi-
cult passages and idioms of the text ; and in them
I take to lie the lasting merits of the work. In
fact, one feels so grateful for having the ground
broken, at last, by a competent hand, and so great
and many are the difficulties, that an even more
generous allotment of space than the ca. 70 pages
devoted to these notes, would have been welcome.
Taking into account that the number of these
notes is considerable, it is to be regretted that no
reasoned index is furnished. Matters would have
been helped greatly, moreover, by the introduc-
tion of a continuous numeration of lines (instead
of page and line) which would facilitate compar-
ison with other editions and the various translat-
ions. These are but minor considerations, how-
ever, that do not interfere with an appreciation of
the fund of instructive material condensed in this
part of the book.
As particularly helpful I shall mention the notes
on 56:8; 57:7; 175:9; 243 : 12— which, by
calling attention to ludicrous mistakes of trans-
lators, pointedly emphasize the necessity for the
literary student, of constantly keeping in mind
Goethe's saying :
Wer den Dichter will verstehn,
Muss in Dichters Lande gehn,
in the sense of fully entering into the cultural at-
mosphere by which a work is conditioned ; — fur-
thermore, those on 28 :26 ; 68 : 10 ; 77 : 19 ; 227 :
29, which are essentially acceptable, and clear up
some obscure passages.
The notes on 72 : 12-13 ; 78 : 3-4 ; 157 : 10 ;
and 265 : 13-14 are particularly valuable, as they
have reference to an interesting discovery of Olson
— that, in cases of doubt, the fifth and sixth edi-
tion of the poem are to be followed. As is well
known, there came a decided change over Ibsen's
whole external appearance and bearing, after his
huge success with Brand. At the same time he
deliberately changed his hand writing from a rather
careless, unsteady cursive to the exquisite, aris-
142
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 5.
tocratic steil skrift (back-hand) of his later MSS.,
which thus are the final instance for all future
editions. ' The MS. of Brand, however, . . . was
found to contain many erasures and corrections.
As Brand was the first of Ibsen's works issued by
the great Gyldendal publishing house in Copen-
hagen, the author seems to have taken unusual
pains in proof-reading. Letters to the publishers
show that he called attention to misprints in the
first editions. As a result, the fifth edition (1868)
is free from errors. The sixth edition is an im-
portant one, for in this the orthography was changed
to accord with the recommendations made at the
Stockholm Congress of 1869.' Ibsen does not
seem to have taken such care with the following
editions. The tenth edition, already, ' contains
several misprints, some of such importance as to
obscure the meaning. The majority of these were
carried down to later editions, even to the Memo-
rial Edition (Minde Udgave) of 1906, the first
and only Norwegian edition of Ibsen's works.'
Some few of the notes, however, will hardly be
acceptable to all.
40 : 18. 'j0)clens void ' is scarcely to be trans-
lated ' the glacial plains ' ; for void in the sense of
' a plain ' , prevailingly carries the connotation of
' grassy plain, greensward ' (Old Norse vo_llr).
A better reading is obtained by translating it
with ' wall ' (ultimately from Latin vallum) :
' deroppe messer fos og skred / der praeker viud
pa j0klens void ' — with the glacier as pulpit.
The element I0flning — in the numerous com-
pounds mentioned in the note on 110:23 has
more of the meaning of '(active) inspiration, up-
lift ' (vaekkelse, in a revivalist sense), than of
' exaltation ' or ' exhilaration. '
The word flugt in 73:24 ('det star mig for
some lys og flugt ' ) is interpreted by the editor
as 'flight (i. e., of fleeting light).' It means,
however, surely, 'noble, soaring thoughts, fire,'
as will be seen by comparing with 62 : 16 ; 111 :
17 ; 236 : 14, etc. Cf. also Dahl og Hammer,
Dansk Ordbog, under flugt 4.
78 : 8-9 deserved a less laconic note, to clear
up what Herford cautiously called a ' somewhat
awkward ' passage ; for I entertain great doubts
whether the average present-day college student
remembers that ' after this lived Job an hundred
and forty years ' !
In this connection I may remark that I have no
great faith in Ibsen's biblical learning, constant
reader of the Scriptures though he was, like
Goethe. He has the ' philosophical ' memory —
the one that is not much concerned about details.
Thus I wonder whether (210 : 23) ' oberst Urian '
(instead of UriaA, Greek Urias) is intended to
cap the climax of the Dean's delightful exhibition
of his shallow Biblical learning ; or is not rather
— just a little, harmless, human error of the great
poet himself? — Uriau, it is to be remembered, is
a German comic quasi-surname used when one
will not, or cannot, call a male person by his right
name, thus also as an appellation of the devil.
(Sanders Wb. )
Et diplomatisk himmelbrev (117 : 25) is decid-
edly not ' a diplomatic correspondence ' ; but must
be understood as a word newly coined by the poet
in analogy with kongebrev ' special license, dis-
pensation, ' here granted i>y heaven.
I was somewhat disappointed in not finding a
note on 34:19 ('Se, det er dampen; — din og
min'), where dampen for damperen seems to me
a most questionable makeshift, 'nor any suggestion
how to read that metrically abominable line
250 : 26 ('regnbue over majvangen').
But, as was remarked above, notwithstanding
a few flaws, the edition as a whole is a most cred-
itable piece of book-making, and thoroughly to
be recommended as a guide, both for the class-
room and for the private study of this mighty
poem. May it add to the number of the lovers
and learners of Scandinavian letters !
LEE M. HOLLANDER.
Ann Arbor, Mich.
THE PLAYS OF MOLIERE.
CURTIS HIDDEN PAGE : Molilre. A new trans-
lation. Two volumes. G. P. Putnam's Sons,
New York, 1908.
Dr. Curtis Hidden Page in his preface to the
translation of Moliure's Plays calls attention to
1 1 faintly remember having heard the form ' dampen' in
the lively Bergen dialect (so fond of abbreviations); but
it is surely unknown elsewhere in Norway. It is not
found in Fvar Aasen's nor in Ross' collections.
May, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
143
the fact that, in all these years, no verse trans-
lation of the great dramatist's work has appeared.
Dr. Page accepts the handicap which translation
must always mean, and takes Rossetti's dictum
concerning translation, making the stricture even
more strict ; for he would have not only fidelity,
the fidelity of beauty, but literality also ; from
which, he modestly tells his readers, so compelling
is the speech of the master dramatist, he cannot
escape. And faithful to the full meaning of
Moliere, Dr. Page always is ; that he is suc-
cessful in literality is not so invariably true.
The translator believes that this verse of
Moliere' s is the best dramatic verse ever writ-
ten ; simple, direct, humorous, subtle, strong.
The final test of Dr. Page's success is to forget
the French of the dramas and witness that in the
English they are still the plays of Moliere. To
some of the plays I was an outsider when I took
up these two volumes, a vantage ground for a critic
of the English verse into which many of them
have been rendered, for it is the outsider who
will pronounce the final criticism on them as
English verse, and, indeed, for that matter, as
English prose. After turning to the French I
realized that Professor Page has accomplished the
"impossible and charming task" which he had
set himself. The excellent English, dramatic,
blank verse is still fulfilled with the dramatic
French alexandrines of the master. Indeed, Mr.
Page's rendering is so accomplished, that without
any of the too detailed explanation of the method
of his work which he gives, it would stand on its
own merit. We have a little of the legalist's love
for a fact, and the fact here, is the published
translation.
The expression of the plays may seem to one
who knows his Moliere in the original, stronger
in the English than it is in the French. And so
it is, but, as the translator has written elsewhere,
"that effect is in the nature and genius of the
English language." We say things more strongly
and baldly than the French do, and their nuances
are not to the manor born of English language.
Many of the sentences convey more strength than
the French. In Tartuffe, for example, when
Orgon says (Act i, scene 2),
' ' Out, je pretends, ma file,
Unir, par wire hymen, Tartuffe a mafamille,"
in the English we have " graft" Tartuffe into his
family. Again (Act in, scene 3), for "Heureux,
sivous voulez; malheureux, s' il vous plait," "Blest,
if you will ; but damned, by your decree." In
Act iv, scene 1, of Tartuffe there is a decided
question of the harmony of tradition of the French
phrase and its translation, " eontre toute raison,"
and ' ' dead against " as it is rendered. Also, in
Actv, scene 1, instinctively one questions whether
the use of " cozened " is in the same tradition as
the idiom ' ' dead against. ' ' But one may be too
particular, and it is a question whether one has a
right in Act iv, scene 1, of Tartuffe, for example,
to resent Elmire's expression, "branded me a
liar." The perspective of English is different
from that of French, and in the overstatement of
a French phrase one may be getting only the
proper distances or effects for the English. But
here, at least, one is at liberty to prefer Elmire's
way of expressing herself in French.
There is a certain vigor, largely physical, I
think, about the English idiom, the defect of
whose good quality is perhaps a lack of refine-
ment. There are times when Dr. Page's vigorous
and somewhat unusual phraseology is out of keep-
ing. Where he translates, " et de faire le maitre ' '
by "and rule the roast" (Tartuffe, Act i, scene
1), we have translation— dangerously like some-
thing else, the typesetters know what — which is
not quite so admirably direct as Mr. Page's char-
acteristic English. How unaffected and intelli-
gible to the lay reader these translations are, is
illustrated by a line from Tartuffe (Act i, scene
1 ) , ' 'Et c' est tout justement la cour du roi Petaud, ' '
translated, "It's perfect pandemonium." And
there are whole scenes not only unforgetably good
in French, but also unforgetably good in English.
The famous scene where Orgon inquires for his
family, Mr. Page translates with the highest suc-
cess, keeping the manner and spirit of the orig-
inal. When one reads this scene, or the last
scene of Act n of Tartuffe, there is good reason to
believe that these volumes will become the standard
English translations of Moliere' s plays.
The translator quotes some memorable words
from Goethe in ' ' The Miser " : " Moliere is so
great that you are newly amazed every time you
re-read him. He is unique. His plays border
on the tragic, .... and are beyond imitation.
His ' ' Miser ' ' especially, in which the contest
144
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 5.
between father and son destroys all natural piety,
is of unusual grandeur, and, in a high sense,
tragic. ... I always read a few of Moliere's plays
every year, just as I often look over the engrav-
ings from great Italian masters. For we tiny
men are not capable of retaining in our minds
the greatness of such things as these, and must,
therefore, return to them constantly, to renew
their impressions upon us." But fun in plenty
there is, too, in these plays : the comedy that
teaches. Where can one find more contagious
laughter than Moliere has at the expense of Mad-
elon in " The Affected Misses?" Nor has " com-
modities of conversation " as a circumlocution for
chair, gone entirely out of vogue among the pre-
cieux of to-day. And when one sees a religious
body putting into print denunciations regarding
the declining morality of our day — this day, that
sees more attempts at a just, human brotherhood
than the world has ever seen — one realizes that
over the drivel and cant of a Tartuffe, men may
still break a godly lance, if they but will. " 'Tis
a mighty stroke," said Moliere, " at any vice to
make it the laughing stock of everybody ; for men
will easily suffer reproof ; but they can by no
means endure mockery. They will consent to be
wicked but not to be ridiculous." Nor is the
Medical Faculty of Paris, at which Moliere
laughed in "The Doctor by Compulsion," an
entirely ancient Faculty. Our physicians have
given up talking Latin and using Greek names ;
they no longer deny the circulation of the blood,
but many of them still deny one the cure that
conies by intelligent prescription of fresh air, sun-
shine, pure water, good food and remedial exer-
cise, and continue to pin their faith to drugs.
Professor Brander Matthews, in his Introduction
to these volumes, has summed up, in words not
readily forgotten, the dictum of Sainte-Beuve :
"To love Moliere, to love him sincerely, is to
have a guarantee against many a defect and many
a fault ; it is to be antipathetic to all pedantry,
all artificiality of style, all affectation of language ;
it is to love common-sense in others as well as in
yourself ; it is to be assured against the dangers
either of over-estimating our common humanity,
or under-estimating it ; it is to be cured forever
of fanaticism and intolerance." In his Introduc-
tion, Professor Matthews makes the assertion that
there are only four poets admitted by all " to
stand together on the higher peak of Parnassus " :
Homer and Dante, Shakespeare and Goethe. Of
Professor Matthews' assertion that the supreme
dramatists are three, there can be, I think, no
question : Sophocles, Shakespeare and Moliere.
He then goes on to distinguish among the struc-
tures of the best plays of Sophocles, the Greek,
Shakespeare, the Englishman, Moliere, the French-
man ; calling one ancient ; the second, semi-me-
diceval ; the third, modern.
Nothing is, I think, more astonishingly evi-
dent than the moderness of Moliere's plays.
The fifteen years preceding the appearance of
"Pilgrim's Progress" (1678 to 1684), that is,
from the year '63 on, saw, among other plays,
Moliere's "Tartuffe" (1664, first three acts),
"The Misanthrope" (1666), "The Miser"
(1668), "The Merchant Turned Gentleman"
(1670), "The Learned Ladies" (1672), and
" The Imaginary Invalid " (1673). If it seems
to anyone that it is not quite fair to let even so
popular a voice as "Pilgrim's Progress" show,
at least, a portion of the state of literature in Eng-
land, then take the years identical with those in
which Moliere's greatest plays were written, that
is, from 1663 to 1673. These are the beginning
years in the Restoration Drama, modern assuredly
in nothing but its viciousness. Of the immediate
sense in which Moliere is modern "Paradise Lost"
knows nothing. Run through a list of Dryden's
dramas, the very titles reveal much heroic an-
tiquity, in which the modern world is not at all
interested, when even the staging of Moliere's
plays remains to-day precisely what the master
intended it to be.
Not only is Moliere one of the greatest drama-
tists of all time, but he has this added claim,
of making an appeal more modern than that
of our own Shakespeare. Has the English
public recognized the claim of Moliere as the
European public has recognized that of Shakes-
peare ? Where have been the translations of
Moliere's plays comparable with those made of
Shakespeare until these volumes of Dr. Page's
appeared ? The translator is indeed a pioneer
and the discoverer of a great need.
JEANNETTE MARKS.
Mount Holyoke CoUegt.
May, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
145
GERMAN LITERATURE.
Ebernand von Erfurt: Zu seinem Leben und
Wirken. By GEORGE M. PRIEST, Ph. D.
Inaugural dissertation, Jena, Kampfe, 1907.
ix and 102 pp.
One cannot help feeling in laying down this
interesting monograph that its author has been
most fortunate in his choice of a subject, and, we
may add, no less successful in his treatment of it.
A contemporary of Wolfram, Gottfried, Walther
and all the best known poets of the classic mhg.
literature, Ebernand von Erfurt has nevertheless
been scarcely more than a shadow, not only to the
general reading public but to many careful stu-
dents of this period as well. In various standard
histories of German Literature one will look in
vain for any mention of the poet's name. I ven-
ture to predict that the dissertation before us will
make it impossible for any future historian to pass
over Ebernand in silence.
Let it be said, however, that Dr. Priest makes
no effort to vindicate high poetic ability for his
hero. Esthetic considerations do not enter. His
object is rather to establish the basic facts in the
life of Ebernand, his relation to the world in
which he lived, the occasion and sources of his
poem, Kaiser und Kai-serin, and its connection
with later works treating of the same historico-
legendary events.
While space forbids even a resume of Dr.
Priest's argumentation and conclusions, I would
call attention to one or two topics discussed, partly
as an illustration of the author's method of pro-
cedure and partly for their interest to the general
reader.
Bechstein in his edition of Heinrich und Kune-
gunde (this is the title he uses for the poem) and
Bech in his review of the same, were of the
opinion that Ebernand must have been a monk
and this view has prevailed without further inves-
tigation since their day. To the cursory reader
the poem indeed sounds monkish. Heinrich and
his spouse are presented as model Christian rulers,
there is much praise of life in the cloister and in
general a pious and religious tone prevails. But
thru a study of contemporary legal documents of
the city of Erfurt, Dr. Priest shows that Eber-
iiand the poet is identical with a civis or burgensis
of that city, who, together with other laymen, ap-
peared as a witness in various legal proceedings
between the years 1212 and 1227.
From these documents it also appears that
Ebernand was a member of the city council and
accordingly a man of some distinction in his day.
Before these substantial facts the stylistic argu-
ments of Bechstein and Bech fall to the ground.
The praise of cloister life is shown conclusively to
be purely objective, proceeding from a man of
affairs who looks with envy, real or assumed,
upon the quiet life of the ecclesiastic. And no
further explanation of the religious tone of the
poem is required when we find that it was com-
posed at the instigation, and probably with the
help, of a Cistercian monk, Reimbote, with whom
Ebernand stood on terms of intimate friendship
and to whom he refers as minfrunt, an appelation
which surely no monk would apply to one of the
fratres.
Scarcely less convincing, tho in itself less im-
portant, is the proof advanced to show that while
Ebernand remained a life long citizen of Erfurt,
he must have visited Bamberg, in all probability
for the purpose of collecting material at first hand
for his projected poem.
On the other hand, Dr. Priest finds good reason
for believing that the poem was actually composed
in Erfurt, not in Bamberg, as Paul surmised.
As terminus a quo the year 1201 is established.
No certain date can be given for the terminus ad
quern. General considerations induce the author
to place it not later than 1227. Valuable for a
future editor of the poem are the discussion and
suggestion of new readings and punctuation to
which ten pages of the dissertation are devoted.
Interesting material for the literary historian
is found in the third section of the monograph,
which comprises a study of later treatments of the
same theme, particularly in their relation to Eber-
nand's work.
The subject, however, is much too complicated
to consider in detail here. Dr. Priest's investi-
gations have resulted in a distinct addition to our
knowledge of the literature of the thirteenth cen-
tury, and it seems certain that the more important
of his conclusions will be incorporated in time in
all histories dealing with this period.
146
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 5.
Turning from the public to the author, I should
like, in conclusion, to submit one or two questions
which the latter may find more or less suggestive.
Is not the keen desire of Reimbote to have himself
justified before the world an evidence that the
terminus ad quern for the composition of the poem
must have been within a few years of the terminus
a quo f If twenty or even ten years had elapsed
since the events which led up to his departure
from Bamberg, it seems unlikely that he would
have still been so eager to have his friend address
a semi-apologetic poem to the ecclesiastics of that
city.
Would it not be more reasonable to assume that
Ebernand the elder and EbernandjMvejm stood in
the relation of Pate and Patenkind, or possibly in
no relation at all, rather than in that of father
and son ?
In the relatively small and fixed circle of
Burger it would be necessary in any case to dis-
tinguish two men of the same name. The ques-
tion is whether at a time when family names were
not yet in use it was customary for a father to
bestow his own name upon his son.
If further proof were needed that Ebernand
was a layman could it not be found in the fact
that he begs indulgence of the meister tihtere and
evidently wishes to be considered not unworthy to
join their circle ?
The meister tihtere of this period were perhaps
without exception Ritter or Burger, in no case
ecclesiastics. The leadership in literary produc-
tion had passed a generation earlier from the
churchmen to men of the world, and it was there-
fore quite in accord with the general situation that
Reimbote should seek a protagonist outside of the
walls of the cloister.
H. Z. KIP.
Vanderbilt University.
ENGLISH RHETORIC.
A College Manual of Rhetoric, by C. S. BALD-
WIN, Longmans, Green and Company, 3d edi-
tion, revised, 1903.
It is surprising to find the author of a text-book
of rhetoric himself guilty of some of the commonest
improprieties of speech, and in not a few instances
committing the very same solecisms against which
he warns his inexperienced readers. Yet such
charges may fairly be brought against Professor
Baldwin's Manual, for the book is frequently
marred by pedantry, inaccuracy, and obscurity
of style, which is all the more surprising in view
of the fact that it is the third edition, revised.
The author informs us, furthermore (p. xiv),
that the Manual has been subjected to a "gen-
erous criticism that has saved the book at more
than one point from deviation." One is tempted
to believe that this criticism has been almost too
generous.
Prose composition Professor Baldwin divides
into two classes : composition for business and
composition for pleasure (p. 2). "The former
. . . may be called logical composition ; the latter
. . . may be called literary composition. . . . The
former is covered by the rhetoric of the ancients.
For the latter, since they had comparatively little
prose composition, except histories, outside of the
former, the ancients had no separate body of
theory ; but since in their principles of the drama
verse is not considered an essential element, some
of the fundamental aspects of our second class are
developed at length in the ancient poetics."
The use of the terms " former " and "latter "
may be criticised as awkward and obscure.1 In
the sentence beginning "For the latter," the
reader is held in doubt till he reaches the semi-
colon whether ' for ' is a conjunction or a prepo-
sition. There is an awkward heaping of phrases
in ' ' except histories, outside of the former, ' ' and
the reference to " our second class" is not at once
clear. Indeed, the sentence as a whole requires
several readings before the intended meaning
becomes apparent.
Apart from a question of style, however, there
is a question of fact. Is it true that the ancients
had comparatively little prose composition except
histories ? And can it be shown that ' ' in the
principles of their drama verse is not considered
an essential element ? ' '
The concluding sentence in this same paragraph
1 For cautions against the excessive use of such objec-
tionable devices for avoiding repetition, see A. S. Hill,
Principles of Rhetoric, page 84 ; Newcomer, Elements of
Rhelorit, page 171.
May, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
147
is even more obscurely expressed : ' ' But since the
division, on the one hand, that sort of composition
which everybody practises and everybody may
learn to practise well, and on the other hand,
that sort which only the few practise well, it
serves as a sound basis for practical discussion. '
In this sentence, as in the foregoing, the meaning
and grammatical relation of the first word, 'since,'
remain ambiguous till the close of the sentence is
reached. After settling the question, however,
and concluding that ' since ' is a conjunction with
verb suppressed, the reader is still more puzzled
to discover the noun to which ' it ' in the prin-
cipal clause refers. These two sentences might
both have been cited on p. 27 as violations of
coherence.
On p. 251 there is an emphatic statement, sup-
ported by little weight of authority, as to ' half-
clauses ' : "In like manner there must be no half-
clauses (i. e., locutions beginning with a conjunc-
tion but having no predicate). Either complete
the clause by adding a verb, or else reduce it to a
phrase.
When in Rome he saw the late King Humbert
Should drop the conjunction :
In Rome he saw the late King Humbert."
Yet in the very sentence quoted above, beginning
"But since the division," the author makes use
of the half-clause which he so dogmatically con-
demns and which, in this case at least, leads to
serious ambiguity.
Page 9, § 7. In this paragraph for the space
of eight lines the topic has been the speech of St.
Paul. Suddenly and abruptly, with no prepara-
tion for the transition, the student is brought back
to his own theme work, so that it is not at first
clear whether he is to make a ' separate revision '
of St. Paul's speech or of his own essay. Here is
a clear lack of that explicit reference ' that is so
important a part of coherence.'
P. 177. In the following sentence the effort to
avoid repetition results in an awkward, disagree-
able collocation of words and tends to obscurity :
" Every place may thus be individualized, and of
course every person must be, under pain of failing
to be a person."
P. 186. "Not only may a man be described
by his effects, but also a scene." A man's 'ef-
fects ' are usually considered to be his worldly
goods, and not the impressions, good or bad,
which he may make on those around him.
P. 199. The examples here chosen are not such
as the average undergraduate is likely to be per-
fectly familiar with. How many will understand
and appreciate the references to the style of Bos-
suet's sermons, the mawkishness of Manon Les-
caut, the ' monstrous lie ' in the second chorus of
Swinburne's Atalanta in Calydon, and the 'hide-
ous moral obliquity ' of Cellini's autobiography ?
Are there not simpler and better known examples,
which from their very familiarity will make a
stronger appeal and convey a much clearer
meaning ?
P. 202. "Such men have the same aversion
from strained or affected language as from com-
monplace language." The weight of authority
is now altogether in favor of to rather than from
in this construction.
Webster's International: " Aversion is now
generally followed by to before the object. Some-
times towards and for are found ; from is obsolete."
The Century is almost as positive : ' ' This word
(averse) and its derivatives are now regularly fol-
io wed by to, and not by from, although the latter
is used by some modern writers. The word itself
includes the idea of from ; but the literal meaning
is ignored, the affection of the mind signified by
the word being regarded as exerted toward the
object of dislike. Similarly, the kindred terms
contrary, repugnant, etc., are also followed by to. "
The Oxford Dictionary is even more decisive :
' ' The use of the preposition to, rather than from
after averse and its derivatives, although con-
demned by Johnson as etymologically improper,
is justified by the consideration that these words
express a mental relation analogous to that indi-
cated by hostile, contrary, repugnant, hostility,
opposition, dislike, and naturally take the same
construction. Aversion in the sense of an action
which would properly be followed by from, is now
obsolete. ' '
Curiously enough, on p. 209 appears the ex-
pression abhorrence toward, which if etymological
accuracy is to be insisted on, should by analogy
be abhorrence from. By the very process of
analogy, however, through which we now have
148
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 5.
averse to, rather than averse from, Professor Bald-
win has, with apparent ' unawareness, ' been led
to use the construction abhorrence toward, rather
than the more usual, and certainly more natural,
abhorrence of.
P. 251. "In like manner there must be no
half-clauses, .etc." See above. It would be
interesting to know upon what grounds objec-
tion is made to a construction so common and so
well established.2
Besides these stylistic defects criticism might be
made of the arrangement of the book. Prose
composition is divided arbitrarily, and not alto-
gether logically, into composition for business and
composition for pleasure. Composition for busi-
ness, which includes persuasion and exposition,
is called ' logical composition ' ; composition for
pleasure, which includes narration and descrip-
tion, is termed 'literary composition.' "These
two classes are not to be thought of as more than
convenient abstractions. Business and pleasure
are not terms mutually exclusive, nor logic and
art. An essay, for example, must be logical to
the extent of having a clear and reasonable se-
quence. It may also be artistic, have literary
charm, and the more of this the better. But
since the division, ... it serves as a sound basis
for practical discussion." One is led to question
the propriety and utility of such a division. In-
deed, as a working basis it does not seem as prac-
ticable as Professor Baldwin would have us believe,
for in seeking to carry it out consistently, he lays
too great emphasis upon the logical side of per-
suasion and exposition, and pays scant attention
to the literary forms of these two divisions. The
essay is dismissed in a brief paragraph (§ 78),
with passing reference to Macaulay, Huxley,
Tyndall, Arnold, and Pater ; and the speeches
of Webster and Lincoln receive slight notice in a
final sentence (p. 125).
The chapters on literary composition (narration
and description) and on prose diction are more
interesting and more suggestive, and the appendix
contains many helpful notes and references for the
teacher. The references should, however, cite the
JSee Kriiger, Englische Syntax, § 1762 ; Onions, An
Advanced English Syntax, 57a 5 ; Sweet, A New English
Grammar, n, § 2346-8 ; C. A. Smith, Our Language,
p. 71, note.
page on which the selections may be found, as
there is nothing whatever to indicate that the
illustrative extracts are more than a hundred
pages further on. One is prompted to ask why
might not the notes have been placed where they
would seem naturally to belong, after the selec-
tions for reading?
The illustrative extracts with which the volume
closes are poorly selected, and with the exception
of Cardinal Newman, are uninteresting. With
almost unlimited material to draw from, it seems
odd that Professor Baldwin should have selected,
among others, a chapter from a somewhat crudely
written bulletin of the U. S. Department of Agri-
culture, and a very technical essay on Japanese
art. To succeed in interesting a class of college
students in these selections, for which the notes
are not altogether adequate, is by no means an
easy task.
In its present form the College Manual of
Rhetoric is not a thoroughly teachable book, and
it is hoped that, should a fourth edition be in
preparation, it will have a more careful and
thorough revision than the third.
NOTE. — This review was written in November, 1906,
shortly after the writer had vainly struggled for a half
session to interest in the book a class of sophomores in the
University of North Carolina. Since that time a fourth
edition, revised, has appeared, dated 1907. Though the
numbering of the pages does not correspond exactly in
both editions, there will be little difficulty in finding the
passages referred to or quoted in the review.
In the preface to the fourth edition the author makes
acknowledgment for " highly valued suggestions" and
speaks of the "thorough" revision that has been made.
Of the passages criticised in my review, however, only
one has been subjected to revision. The hopelessly in-
volved sentence beginning "But since the division" has
been "improved " as follows : " But a division that sets
on the one hand that sort of composition which everybody
practises and everybody may learn to practise well, and on
the other hand that sort which only the few practise much
and only the few have the gift to practise, well, serves as a
sound basis f or practical discussion" (italics mine). What-
ever criticism may be made of the elegance and force of
the sentence in its revised form, at least it has the merit
now of being not absolutely obscure in meaning.
It is difficult to see how either the author or his gener-
ous critics could have allowed so many other faulty pas-
sages to stand unchallenged and unchanged. The chief
defect, however, lies not in the mere mechanics of expres-
sion,— bad as that is, — but in the tone and point of view.
The book is totally lacking in spontaneity and freshness,
and reveals at times a complacent ignorance of what is
May, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
149
good and what is bad in English prose style. The follow-
ing passage, which is quoted in full from the fourth edi-
tion, revised, will serve to illustrate these fundamental
defects (pp. 178-180) :
"192. The second counsel means to avoid explanatory
interpolations (§150).
When we had reached the bare little station we were refreshed by
the sight of wooded mountains all around it,
is a typical instance of description clogged by worthless
lumber. All it means is,
The sight of wooded mountains all around the bare little station
was refreshing;
and it ought to be still further reduced by combination
with what follows.
The refreshment from, wooded mountains all around the bare little
station prepared us to enjoy the view of far blue peaks from the
first ridge.
This is the negative way of descriptive conciseness. The
positive way is to charge each word with suggestion : in-
stead of depending altogether on nouns and adjectives, to
force contribution from the verbs too (§ 162). The best-
stored mind has not adjectives enough for description.
The exhaustion of epithets overtaking a coaching party in
a new country is typical of what happens to every student
of letters very early in his practice. Happy he, if he
learns then and there that the effort to make adjectives
suffice is futile. From time to time a passing success is
achieved thus by the sensational torturing of language.
But the strain of this kind of writing is no more obvious
than its failure. The surer way is to exact of each word
its share.
A waft from the pines darkening the hills about the shanty stimu-
lated us to laugh at the far glimpse of our own blue peaks from the
first rise.
This is better than the first sentence because it accom-
plishes more in the same space by cutting out the lumber :
but also better than the second because pines is more con-
crete and specific ( § 226 ) than wooded, waft and laugh than
refreshment and enjoy, stimulated than prepared. The de-
scription is both stronger and easier because nearly every
word is suggestive."
It would be an interesting experiment to read aloud to
a class the original sentence together with its various ' ' im-
provements" and ask for honest expressions of opinion.
How many, for example, could explain in the last sen-
tence the state of mind of the pedestrians who by a " waft
from the pines" are "stimulated to laugh at the far
glimpse of their own blue peaks"? The most plausible
explanation would be that the party made too many stops
at public houses on the way.
In the appendix the author has wisely substituted in
place of Bulletin 24, U. S. Department of Agriculture, an
interesting chapter on " The Glacier Lakes," by John
Muir ; and instead of the difficult and technical treatise
on Japanese art, has inserted a selection from Lafcadio
Hearn, on "The Genius of Japanese Civilization," with
the "idiosyncrasies of punctuation retained."
Even in its revised form the book is calculated rather to
repel the student than to beget in him a love of good
English style.
J. M. McBRYDE, JK.
Sweet Briar College, Va.
ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE.
Orundriss der germanisehen Philologie. II Band,
vi Absclmitt, Literaturgeschichte. Englische
Literatur von ALOIS BRANDL. Augelsachsische
Periode. Strassburg : Triibner, 1908.
One of the most important contributions to the
history of Anglo-Saxon literature which has ap-
peared for many years has now been added to the
second edition of Paul's Grundriss. In form it is
only a section of this larger work, but in scope
and minuteness it far exceeds the measure of most
single volumes on similar subjects. The entire
Anglo-Saxon period, which Professor Brandl be-
lieves should be extended into the middle of the
twelfth century, is treated in considerable detail.
The book is one for the scholar rather than the
general reader, being condensed as far as possible,
and practically presupposing some familiarity with
the subject. Great labor, erudition, and judg-
ment have been combined in its making. The
copious bibliographical references will be exceed-
ingly useful, and the critical discussions based on
recent researches make the whole perhaps the
best existing scientific presentation of the begin-
nings of English literature. A judicial and con-
servative attitude is generally assumed towards
disputed questions. There will be many cases in
which the conclusions expressed will not meet
with assent, but if the author has occasionally
failed to indicate that a given point is open to
controversy, it is doubtless from the conviction
that a somewhat dogmatic attitude is necessary
where lack of space makes discussion impossible.
The first edition of the Grundriss contains, as
will be remembered, only the unfinished outline of
early national poetry ; the completion of the sec-
tion on Anglo-Saxon literature was prevented
by the untimely death of ten Brink. The present
work, then, is in no sense a revision, even of the
small portion actually completed, but is entirely
independent. The mere statement that it consists
150
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, JVb. 5.
of a hundred and ninety-three pages gives no ade-
quate idea of the wealth of material presented, or
of the terseness and suggestiveness of the treat-
ment. In a short review, many interesting pages
must of necessity be ignored. Only the more im-
portant matters can be touched upon, and then
only with a brevity that will serve rather as a sug-
gestion and caution to the reader than as an elu-
cidation or solution of difficulties. The chapters
on the prose may be passed over more rapidly,
both because they involve fewer disputed problems
and because nearly four times as much space is
devoted to the poetry as to the prose texts.
Professor Brandl employs an elaborate sche-
matic division of the material, partly chronolog-
ical, but largely according to types, the effect of
Germanic tradition being best illustrated in this
way. A slight inconsistency appears in including
Section D, Prosa vor Alfred (pp. 1051-61), under
the grand division I, Altheimische Dichtung vor
Alfred (p. 947). The general remarks on the
separation of English literature into periods (pp.
941-47) are worth noting, a more philosophic
grouping being here insisted upon than that
usually followed. To the bibliography on page
943 should be added the new Cambridge History
of English Literature, the first volume of which,
although not wholly satisfactory, is not to be
neglected by the student of this epoch. A few
statements about the Charms are not quite accu-
rate. The Bibliothek der ags. Poesie contains
only eight verse-charms, not nine ; the one printed
in n, 202 being merely a more exact transcript of
No. 8, Vol. i. Another, which is really a verse-
charm, is printed in the Bibliothek der ags. Prosa,
VI, 107. (Cf. Brandl, p. 957.) Again, it is at
least doubtful if Wotan was the original deity
of the Hundesegen (p. 956) ; the arguments of
Priebsch, Academy, No. 1255, whom Brandl
apparently follows, being inconclusive on this
disputed point.1 Two charms to recover stolen
cattle are printed by MacBryde, Mod. Lang.
Notes, xxi, 180 ff. This article might be added
to the list noted pp. 957-8. Some new ideas in
regard to the Anglo-Saxon Dirges are advanced
by Schiicking, Englische Studien, xxxix, 1 ff.
'Cf. the forthcoming monograph by F. Grcndon, The
Anglo-Saxon Charms. I am indebted to Mr. Grendon for
information about the Charms.
Critical opinion in regard to Widsith is very
well summarized. The author divides the poem
into distinct sections, belonging to different periods,
yet he thinks the present structure of the poem
consciously artistic. He recognizes the impossi-
bility of separating the different sections exactly,
yet thinks stylistic differences define them fairly
well. It is not certain that the Roudings are the
Reudigni of Tacitus, and the Myrgings are cer-
tainly not to be identified with the Maurungani
(p. 966, cf. Heinzel, Sitzungsber. der Wiener
Akademie, Phil-Hist. Klasse, 1889, p. 25). Wilna
( Wids. 78) is better taken as an abstract noun
than as the name of a country. The expression
fiearfe secgaft, fioncword sprecafi ( Wids. 137)
hardly indicates that memory-verses were spoken
rather than sung, whatever the fact may have
been. Recent criticism has shown how much
greater is the importance of lists of names in the
development of epic than used to be thought the
case. The monograph of Gudmund Schiitte, Old-
sagn om Godtjod, Cop. 1907, would strengthen
the bibliography on this point. Brandl thinks
the poem was completed in the eighth century,
but before the time of Cyuewulf, and in Mercia.
Throughout the book a distinction is made in
quotations between vowels long both by origin
and usage, and original long vowels later short-
ened in pronunciation, by marking them as fol-
lows : lideof> (cf. p. 948, note). The macron is
used differently in such words as geomor, in which
the e shows the quality of the preceding conso-
nant. It seems on the whole doubtful whether
these distinctions are really necessary, but this
procedure will doubtless meet with much more
approval than that adopted by Holthausen in his
recent edition of Beowulf.
The discussion of the lyrical and elegiac poems
is disappointing. The summaries of the situations
in such pieces as the First Riddle or The Wife's
Lament are of very questionable accuracy. I
have elsewhere tried to show (Mod. Phil., v,
397 ff.) that it is often impossible to reconstruct
these situations purely from the evidence of the
lyrics themselves. The First Riddle Brandl re-
cognizes as a lyric in the IjoSahpttr form, but he
regards previous efforts to bring the story into con-
nection with saga as unsuccessful, although he
thinks it likely it may belong to some form of the
Odoacer story, or perhaps be an isolated outlaw-
May, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
151
narrative. He is of the opinion that the Hus-
band's (or Lover's) Message is connected with the
Wife's Lament. This is doubtful, to say the least.
The reader should be warned against the conclu-
sions of Imelmann, who revives this theory (cf.
Bradley, Mod. Lang. Review, ir, 365 ff., and
Schiicking, Zs. f. dent. Alt., XLIX, 163 ff.). It
is hard to agree with Brandl that the meaning of
the runes at the end of the Message is " leicht zu
erraten." Certainly his explanation is obscure
enough. The most convincing explanation thus
far offered is that proposed by Bradley, foe. cit.
The Seafarer Brandl states to be a dialog (p.
979), not telling the reader that the " old and
young sailors ' ' may well exist only in the imag-
ination of critics.
The treatment of the Anglo-Saxon epic is par-
ticularly interesting. The discussion of Beowulf
is the most detailed and important section in the
whole volume, of which it occupies about one-fifth
— pp. 988-1024. A preliminary sketch of it may
be found in the paper read before the Berlin
Academy, Archiv, cvm, 152 ff. The author first
takes up the Finnsburg Fragment (pp. 983-86),
showing the stylistic contrast to the longer poem,
which leads to the assumption that the Fragment
is only a part of an epic lay, which in its entirety
did not exceed two hundred lines. The "harsh
joy of battle" in this vivid scene has no counter-
part in the ' ' tender elegiac mood ' ' of the Episode
in the epic. In his interpretation of the relation
of the Fragment to the Episode Braudl agrees in
general with the Grein-Bugge theory. It is worth
remarking that he arranges the two Waldhere
fragments in reverse order to that generally
adopted, and that he believes an ecclesiastic is
responsible for the latest form of the poem.
The outline of the plot of Beowulf, and the
analysis of its linguistic and metrical character-
istics may be passed over, though it may be noted
that the MS. is Vitellius A XV, fol. 129-198,
not Vitellius A XXV, fol. 132-201. The prob-
lem of origins, in which there is such small agree-
ment, is one of the most difficult matters to dispose
of in such a book as this. Mythical and imagin-
ative sources are first considered, then historical
elements. A good deal of importance is attributed
to myth, the figure of Breca "beruht auf der
menschenartigen ausmalung eiues Naturvorgan-
ges ; aufgebrochen und offen gehalten wird das
siidskandinavische Meer im Winter durch den
Wind, im westlichen Norwegen aber sorgt der
Golfstrom fur freies Fahrwasser " (p. 992).
Grendel is likewise apparently considered myth-
ical, though not to be interpreted with satisfy-
ing certainty ; the monster was originally over-
come by Beowa, "ein Schutzheros des Acker-
baues." The well-known passage in the Wilt-
shire Charter, which mentions Grendles mere and
Beowan hammes hecgan proves this early connec-
tion. The original mythical hero — "die eigent-
liche Sage gait wohl dem mythischen Beowa" (p.
999) — was displaced in time by the historical
Beowulf. All this sounds quite orthodox and
Mullenhoffian. Various Scandinavian stories are
admitted to show a close resemblance to the Gren-
del-episode, — the tales of Grettir and Ormr Stor-
olfsson, and a number of miirchen. The attempt
to reconcile with later researches into the appear-
ance of the story in Scandinavian the view that
myths elaborated among the Anglo-Saxon formed
the basis of the poem produces something the
same impression of inconsistency in Brandl' s
summary as in the final edition of Mullenhoff's
Untersuchungen (cf. Sarrazin, Engl. Studien, xvi,
72). Brandl says : " Die Sagenvergleichung er-
giebt demnach fur den Kern der Grendel-Ge-
schichte folgende Resultate : Zu Gruude liegt
eine Erziihlung von griiudlicher Austilgung einer
riiuberischen Riesensippe, und zwar nicht durch
das Schwert, da dies nach altem Aberglauben
gegen Damouen nicht ohne weiteres auf kommt,
sondern durch Ringen und durch Anrufung
hoherer Machte. Ursprunglich in skandinavis-
cher Berglandschaft gedacht, kam sie mit den
Angelsachsen nach Brittannien, lebte aber auch
bei den kontinentalen Nordgermanen fort und
gelangte mit solchen nach Island. An verschie-
denen Orten brachte man sie auf unabhangige
Weise mit verschiedenen Lokalgrossen in Zusam-
menhang, bei den Angelsachsen mit der Gestalt
des Beowa-Beowulf " (p. 995). It is not clear,
however, just what Brandl' s hypothesis of the
combination of the different elements is, — how far
he considers that the Grendel story had a double
origin, in the Scandinavian material and in the
mythical conceptions which he seems to regard as
primitive. It is impossible to enter upon a dis-
152
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 5.
cussion of this here.2 The adventure with the
mother was not a " Nachdichtung, " he continues,
and the original order of the adventures was prob-
ably not that in the Orettissaga, since it is the
male demon's duty to sally forth first, although
this may involve an artistic anticlimax later.
Brandl does not seem to make enough allowance for
the possibility that the two adventures circulated
in the form of independent lays, which were dif-
ferently arranged as elaborate narratives grew up.
The dragon episode is recognized as originally in-
dependent of the Grendel theme, and the Fahl-
beck-Bugge hypothesis of the location of the Geats
finds no support in these pages (p. 997). The
Offa-Thrytho material appears a "ziemlich ge-
suchte Erwahnung," yet there is no reason to
consider it an interpolation. This reference to
East-Anglian material, however, supports the
theory that the poem in its present form was put
together at the Mercian court (pp. 998, 1001).
The Christian elements are rightly said to be in-
tegral parts of the poem. — " wer die unheidni-
schen Elemente aus dem Beowulfepos vollstiindig
entfiihren will, muss es umdichteu." One might
take issue with the chance statement that Beowulf
is "bescheiden."
The remarks on the architectonics of the poem
are particularly good. It is clearly shown how
the limits of the rhapsody-form break down, and
yet how far the whole is from attaining the sym-
metry and tranquillity of the ideal epic. In the
section dealing with "higher criticism" Brandl
flatly breaks with the theories of ten Brink and
MiillenhofF. The general line of argument against
the " liedertheorie " is well known, and this is
concisely and convincingly summarized for Beo-
wulf. More stress might have been laid on the
fact that the weakest part of the old hypothesis is
that it started from a purely imaginary conception
of what the style of the heroic epic really was.
Certain similarities to the Aeneid are pointed out,
and the interesting idea is advanced that the clas-
sical poem exerted an influence on the composition
of Beowulf ! The very useful bibliographical sec-
tion is modestly entitled ' ' Versuch einer Beowulf-
Bibliographic. ' '
* I hope to publish shortly a somewhat detailed inves-
tigation of these questions.
Brandl' s review of the Christian poetry may be
considered more briefly. Stylistic questions are
given the most prominent place ; the characteris-
tics of the literary epic and the minstrel lay,
which appear in varying proportions in the Cred-
mouian poems, are clearly defined. The name
Credmon is etymologised as connected with Celtic
cad, "battle." In the dating of these poems,
as indeed throughout the whole volume, Brandl
places great confidence in Barnouw's test, — the
absence of the article before the weak adjective
and substantive. Largely on the strength of this,
apparently, he has dated Christ I before Cyne-
wulf, also Genesis A, Daniel, Azarias, Guthlac A
and Andreas (pp. 1034-86). Elsewhere the same
criterion is applied to relatively short pieces, as
the Ruin (p. 978), in which three instances of
absence of the article are held sufficient to form
a judgment. It is admitted (p. 1034) that the
normalizing of later scribes somewhat destroys the
value of this test. The tendency to archaize, to
use traditional formulas and expressions, so strong
in Anglo-Saxon poetry, should also be taken into
account. Altogether, it is impossible to attach
quite as much weight to this test as Brandl does.
The autobiographical details which are put
together from the epilogs in the Cynewulfian
poems should also be taken with caution. The
statement that "er (Cynewulf) war kein Gelehr-
ter, doch ein kirchlich gebildeter Mann " is a little
surprising (p. 1041). The recent investigations
of Professor C. F. Brown (Englische Studien,
xxxvin, pp. 196-233) show that far less infor-
mation in regard to Cynewulf 's life is afforded by
the epilogs in the signed poems than has hitherto
been supposed. ' ' The explicit statement that he
was an old man at the time he wrote Elene, . . .
that his composition of poetry did not begin until
after his conversion, . . . these two statements,
together with his signature in the runes, consti-
tute, I believe, the sum of the personal information
imparted by Cynewulf to his readers in the epi-
logues of the four poems which he is known to
have written" (p. 220). As to his learning,
Professor Brown remarks, " He was no ordinary
priest, but a man of uncommon erudition." Pro-
fessor Brandl is, however, much more cautious
than many scholars about this autobiographical
material, rejecting the minstrel theory, and add-
May, 1909.J
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
153
ing, further on, " darf man Cynewulfs autobiog-
raphische Ausserungen als bare Miinze nelimen,"
etc. A surprisingly small amount of space is
allotted to the signed poems. Nothing appears
to be said of the possibility of a connection between
the Andreas and the Fates of the Apostles. Cf.
Krapp's ed. of Andreas, pp. xxxviiff. Perhaps
the author feels that reference to dubious theories,
even much-discussed ones, is better omitted. The
section closes with an admirable summary of the
changes in poetic ideals and technique observable
through this period.
The discussion of prose in the time of Alfred
and later consists largely of description and of re-
statements of established facts. It may be noted,
however, that Brandl disagrees with the theory
that the prose portion of the Paris Psalter is the
work of Alfred, siding with Bruce as against
Wichtmann (p. 1070). He believes that Alfred
relied more than usually in the translation of
Bede upon the assistance of another, in this case
a Mercian. Sedgfield's edition of the Battle of
Maldon, Bos., 1904, might be added to the bib-
liography, p. 1097. In contrasting the Rhyming
Poem with the Hofuft-lausn of Egil Skallagrims-
son, Brandl comes to the conclusion that it is
more likely that the Icelander was imitating an
Anglo-Saxon tradition than that he was intro-
ducing a foreign form himself (p. 1081). This
may not command universal agreement. He
places Judith in the tenth century, inclining to
Foster's theory that it is a eulogy on JEthelflsed,
the Lady of Mercia, a hypothesis which seems to
be finding more favor, on the whole, than Profes-
sor Cook's, which assigns the piece to the ninth
century.
The book as a whole is remarkably free from
misprints. A few, which are not registered among
the Druckversehen at the end, are noted below.3
Many such must in the nature of things occur in
pages so full of minute detail as these.
J P. 944, 1. 29 read behielten das ; p. 947, 1. 34 read
Wulfstan ; p. 962, 1. 16 read zunachst ; p. 969 read F. B.
Guramere ; p. 977, heading, read Gemahls ; p. 976 read
der, 1. 23 ; p. 969, 1. 12 from bottom read F. Klaeber ; p.
980, 1. 31 read Seaf.; p. 998, 1. 17 from bottom, read
Thrytho for Thryth (?) ; p. 1034, I. 13 read Christ I for
Christ II ; p. 1052, 1. 31 read Ine. P. 957, last line, what
is Archiv 1C?
One lays the volume aside with the feeling that
it is impossible to do it justice in a brief review, or
to avoid creating a false impression in the reader's
mind by the criticism of doubtful questions and
the correction of inevitable errors. Hearty con-
gratulations are certainly due to Professor Brandl
on the admirable performance of a difficult task.
WILLIAM WITHEKLE LAWRENCE.
Columbia University.
MIDDLE ENGLISH POETRY.
The Seven Sages of Rome. Edited by Killis
Campbell (Albion Series of Old English and
Middle English Poetry). Boston : -Ginn &
Company, 1907. 8vo., pp. 217.
The Seven Sages marks the appearance of vol-
ume four of the Albion Series of Old English and
Middle English poetry. In keeping with the aim
of the Series, the present work is critically edited
with introduction, explanatory notes, glossary, and
index. The volume bears witness to a most pains-
taking scholarship in the vast amount of reading
and comparing of authorities, texts, and manu-
scripts entailed in the editing of one of the most
popular romances of the Middle Ages. And the
results obtained have generally been presented in
a form that is admirably usable. For bibliograph-
ical purposes, however, the index is incomplete,
as it omits a number of references to authorities
quoted in the book.
Some 114 pages of introduction, generously sup-
plemented with foot-notes, attest the editor's fa-
miliarity with his subject, of which he has already
given proofs in his dissertation, A Study of the
Romance of the Seven Sages with Special Reference
to the Middle English Versions (1898). The
early history of the romance extends from its
oriental genesis, believed to be Indian, of perhaps
the fifth century B. c., through the Eastern group,
which survives in eight versions, — one in Syriac,
one in Greek, one in Hebrew, one in Old Spanish,
one in Arabic, and three in Persian, — down to its
transmission to Western Europe. The wide gap
separating the Eastern and Western groups leads
to the conclusion that this transmission was oral.
154
MODEBN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 5.
The parent Western version, to be dated not later
than 1150 A. D., gave birth to some forty different
versions of the Seven Sages proper, which exist in
no less than 200 manuscripts. A detailed com-
parison setting forth the distinguishing features of
the Continental versions of the Western group
leads over to the -discussion of the English versions.
The latter represent two distinct lines of tradi-
tion : the Middle English, extant in nine manu-
scripts of the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth
centuries ; and the Early Modern English, of
which the earliest is a prose translation printed
by Wynkyn de Worde (c. 1505-1515).
All the nine Middle English manuscripts are
next described and their interrelations explained.
Of the nine no one depends on another, and only
two are copies of the same text — C (Cotton Galba
E IX, printed as the text in this volume) and R
(Kawliason). The oldest is A (Auchinleck),
written in the Kentish dialect of about 1320.
Most careful has been the working out of the
genealogies of the manuscripts ; it is here that
the editor's capacity for taking pains fairly revels
in intricacies. Indeed the minutiae devoted to the
collation of manuscripts, their agreements and an-
tecedents, and the constant criss-crossing of refer-
ences make it difficult to follow the line of argu-
ment. Moreover, farther on, in the special section
given up to the manuscripts C and R, part of the
same ground is gone over again ; for instance, the
date of composition is discussed in three different
places.
C has been placed in the first quarter of the
fifteenth century ; E in the middle of the four-
teenth ; and cr, the problematical parent, in the
first quarter of the fourteenth. That C and R
belong to the Northern dialect is evident almost
at first sight. As the editor points out, O. E. a
is regularly represented by a ; the present parti-
ciple ends in -and, the inflection of the present
indicative for the second and third persons sin-
gular is invariably (e)s(e), and for the plural -es.
The prefix ge- of the perfect participle is always
omitted ; O. E. palatal c usually becomes k ; sal
and mild, sho and scho, together with an abun-
dance of Northern words, are sufficient ear-marks
of Northern dialect. The place of composition
the editor rather unsatisfactorily dismisses with
the remark that there is nothing to show that the
redaction was not made in the neighborhood of
York. For verification the student must make
his own linguistic comparisons with Northern
texts whose locality is definitely fixed.
In the "Originals and Analogues," we have
what was evidently a labor of love to Mr. Camp-
bell. Here he has classified all the originals,
analogues, variants, derivatives, and reflections
of the fifteen stories related in the Seven Sages
that he has been able to discover. And we may
well believe that he has gleaned the field very
thoroughly. Two additional analogues may be
noted here : one to Vidua, the other to Virgilius.
The former was pointed out by Dr. Joseph Q.
Adams, of Cornell University, in the March
number of the Modern Language Notes, 1908.
The latter is found in the Old Irish legend of the
Voyage of Maelduin,1 the oldest copy of which is
in the Book of the Dun Cow (1100). Herein is
told how the voyagers land on a certain island, on
which stands a beautiful palace. Within they
find a table spread as for a feast, but with no
living being in sight except a cat that spends its
time jumping from pillar to pillar. Having satis-
fied their hunger, the travellers take their depar-
ture. Against the advice of Maelduin, one of his
foster-brothers carries off a torque that is hanging
on the wall. In an instant the cat launches itself
at the offender and, passing through him like a
blazing arrow, consumes him to ashes. After the
torque is replaced, the cat returns to its pillars.
It has apparently escaped the notice of Mr.
Campbell that J. Loth, the noted Celtic scholar,
has called attention, in the Revue Celtique,* to the
resemblance existing between a passage found in
the Welsh version of the Seven Sages and a pas-
sage occurring in Mabinogi of Kulhwch and Olwen.
The passages in question begin so :
Mabinogi. Seven Sages.
Et un jour elle vint 1 la Un jour lit reine alle se
maison d'une vieille sor- promener; elle vint chez
ciere excommunie'e, a un une vieille sorciere qui se
seuloeil, sans une seule trouvait a la ville, sans une
dent dans la tete, etc. dent dans la tete, etc.
1 Edited and translated by W. Stokes, Revue Celtique,
Vols. ix, x, 1888, 1890.
2 " La Version Galloise des Sept Sages de Rome," J.
Loth, Revue Celtique, vol. xxni, 1902.
May, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
155
The fact that the incident is found only in the
Welsh version of the Seven Sages and is told in
almost precisely the same terms as in the Mabi-
nogi leads to the conclusion that the obligation
of borrowing rests upon the Welsh redactor.
As has been stated above, the text printed by
Mr. Campbell is that of C, which numbers 4328
lines, with variants from R as footnotes. This
arrangement saves space, to be sure, but is, on
the whole, less satisfactory than running the two
texts through on opposite pages. Linguistically
C is quite barren of interest. One meets no such
bewildering richness of forms and constructions,
and no such surprising turns of expressions as
reward the student who wades through that other
Northern store-house of mediaeval legends — the
Cursor Mundi. True it is, as Mr. Campbell re-
marks, that, in smoothness and correctness, the
Seven Sages is far superior to the oldest surviving
text of the Cursor Mundi. But the English
author of the Seven Sages lacked imagination and
individuality of style ; his spelling is fairly set-
tled, and his expressions seldom deviate from the
normal. As would be expected, the text is liber-
ally besprinkled with words of French origin,
some of which by this time being part and parcel
of the language, and others having come in with
the French original, which was but one text re-
moved. To the list of Northern words cited
on pages Ixxv and Ixxvi may be added one of
unmistakable Northern parentage — slik for suche
or swich. There is frequently met, too, the Dan-
ish construction of sal without the infinitive. Fra,
in the sense of when, which turns up constantly
in the Cursor Mundi, never occurs in the Seven
Sages.
Among some of the curiosities of idiom may be
noted the following : />i son unto me take (97) =
' ' commit thy son to my care " ; he bad t>e traitur
sold as sone Be nakend and in preson don (562)
= " should be made naked " ; cf. with the use in
the Cursor Mundi of the word naked as an active
transitive verb, also with the instance of the bestes
mekand = ' ' making themselves meek ' ' ; Wald
/>ou Air/ore lose his lyfe (746) : here lose has caus-
ative force ; cf. with Cursor Mundi (16102),
where for/are, which meant in Old English "to
die," has come to mean "to cause to die."
Several times went is used as a past participle :
Au er wightly went (363). The uninflected geni-
tive is common : M whif tales (3220), for my son
sake (4296), etc. The verbs to do, to be, and to
go not infrequently retain, contrary to general
Northern practice, the termination n in the infini-
tive when at the end of a line. There is a tend-
ency, not so consistently carried out, however, as
in the Cursor- Mundi, to preserve a pseudo-Latin
inflectional ending to proper names terminating in
-us : by Ihesu fre (933); by dere Ihesu (1306);
but by swete Ihesus (2973). Cf. with the Cursor
Mundi: lazarum (ace.), lazar (voc. ), laearo
(dat.).
Of the personal pronouns seo and scho occur
regularly : fiou and %e are used pretty indiscrimi-
nately for the nominative singular ; f>e for the sin-
gular oblique and ymi for the plural oblique are
generally stable. To the uniform employment of
AM (third pi. nom.) and />am (third pi. obi.) in
the Seven Sages, the Cursor Mundi shows a re-
freshing variety. />ai and f>ei are usually ascribed
to Scandinavian influence. And certainly f>d does
bear a closer resemblance to the O. N. demon-
strative plural pcvr than to the O. E. A*. Kluge*
rightly admits, however, that there are difficulties
in the way. Morris * disposes of the subject by
saying that At is O. E. fia, probably modified by
Scandinavian influence. Perhaps it comes from
O. Dan. or O. Sw. f>e.
The most northerly dialects prefer ai to ei ', ei
is a mark of the Midland dialect. Accordingly,
in the Seven Sages and texts C, O, and F of the
Cursor Mundi, we find />ai, and in T, of the lat-
ter, fiei. These two diphthongs must have ap-
proximated to the same sound, viz., e'. There
was a tendency in the North to turn into the
diphthong ai or ei O. E. OBJ, ej, oij, ej, a (O. N.
ei).6 This tendency was extended by Scottish
writers of a later period to nearly all the O. E.
vowels : a > ai, e > ei, o > oi, etc.
It is scarcely necessary to state that the relative
in the Seven Sages is not qua, wha, who, etc., but
fiat. In the Cursor Mundi is found in addition at,
atte (F), a form that became predominant in the
later Northern writers— Barbour, Wyntoun, Doug-
3 Kluge, Geschichle der englischen Sprache, p. 1066.
4 Morris, Outlines of Historical English Accidence, 1899.
6 Hupe, Introduction to Cursor Mundi, I, 198.
156
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 5.
las, etc. This is still the form used in vernacular
Scotch of to-day ; hence " Scots wha hae " is a
literary furbishing up of "Scots at hses." At
doubtless came into English from the Danish.
The Seven Sages exhibits no trace of the labial-
ized guttural qu, quh, which was domiciled in the
more northerly dialects. This sound farther north,
in Aberdeen and Angus, close to the Gaelic border,
passed through the stage of the gutturalized labial
w h into the labial/, e. g., quhon^>fone, quat^>
fat, etc.
It remains in conclusion to give the accuracy of
proof-reading its due praise. One error in refer-
ence is to be noted : on p. 209 for Cursor Mundi,
Ixxviii read Ixxvii.
EDWARD GODFREY Cox.
Cornell University.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
MARIAN EDWARDES, A Summary of the Litera-
tures of Modern Europe {England, France, Ger-
many, Italy, Spain) from the Origins to 1400,
compiled and arranged by — . London : J.
M. Dent and Co. ; New York : E. P. Dutton
and Co., 1907. 8vo., xvi and 532 pp.
The plan of this bibliographical work of the
first rank for the student of Mediaeval literatures
and the skill and thoroughness with which it has
been carried out are such as to commend them-
selves to every worker in this field.
As the print is relatively small and the pages
many, it necessarily contains a great amount of
the very latest information about the chief literary
works of the period and countries treated. The
central idea of the compiler appears to have been
to write a manual for the use of students of Eng-
lish literature, with such other information con-
cerning European literatures of the same epoch as
would be most useful to them.
But as three of the literatures included in the
book are the chief Romance literatures and only
two are Teutonic, the manual is of nearly equal
interest to both Teutonic and Romance scholars.
In addition to the long lists of names and dates
to be expected in a manual of this kind, there
have been introduced a great number of short
summaries of the chief literary works mentioned,
and this feature is probably of equal value with
that of the more strictly bibliographical part of
the work.
As this seems to be the author's first venture of
the kind, a few criticisms may not be out of place.
On pp. vii-viii a short summary is given which is
entitled : MSS. in English Libraries, etc. ; it is to
be regretted that similar summaries have not been
given for the other four countries. Similarly on
p. 3 there is given a synoptic statement headed :
Periods of Literature for England, but there are
no similar synopses for Germany, France, Italy
or Spain.
In a work containing so many details there can
hardly help being a number of careless errors
which will be brought to light gradually as the
manual is put to the test of use. One of these
occurring on pp. 11 and 14 (and probably else-
where) is the word "Bonner," which is printed
as though it were the name of a modern scholar
instead of a proper adjective referring to the
University of Bonn. On pp. 146-147 we find
the erroneous statement in reference to the Stras-
burg Oaths : "The compact between Charles the
Bald and Louis the German, when the latter,
with his soldiers, took the oath of allegiance in
French, and the former and his soldiers in Ger-
man." Quite a number of errors in the spelling
of Latin words have been noticed.
The number of pages devoted to the respective
literatures varies greatly. Thus, 142 pages are
given up to the treatment of English Literature,
162 pages to French, 88 pages to German, 76
pages to Italian, and only 39 pages to Spanish.
After the main body of the work come a few
Addenda, and then finally a somewhat meagre
Index of 22 pages.
However familiar a scholar may be with any
particular field of Mediaeval literature, he is
almost certain to find some additional infor-
mation in this manual bearing on his own
studies, and A Summary of the Literatures of
Modem Europe is decidedly a book of reference
which should be found on every medievalist's
study table.
GEORGE C. KEJDEL.
Johns Hopkins University.
May, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
157
GERMAN POETRY.
WILHELM MCLLEB : Gedichte. Vollstandige
kritisehe Ausgabe. Mit Einleitung und Anmer-
kungea besorgt von JAMES TAFT HATFIELD.
Nebst Portriit und einer Facsimilebeilage.
Berlin : B. Behr's Verlag, 1906.
We have here the first critical edition of the
poems and songs of one of the most attractive
Gorman writers. It is true, much of Wilhelm
Miiller's poetry has not stood the test of time.
His astonishing gift of versifying, his flow of
language, his sense of rhythm too often betrayed
him into committing to print what should have
remained within the circle of his friends and boon
companions. There is enough of real value in
his poetry, however, to make a critical edition
distinctly worth while and desirable.
Wilhelm Miiller possessed neither great depth
nor originality. Even if he had lived longer, it
is doubtful whether he would have produced
greater poetry than some of the lyrics of the
Waldhornist or the Griechenlieder, but why
quarrel with a poet on this score who delights us
with his love of nature, his childish simplicity,
his rich humor, his joy of living. In reading
through the poems we feel the heart-beat of that
romantic and dreamy Germany that was the
delight of foreigners, that Germany which we
find in Longfellow's Hyperion or in Bayard
Taylor's Views on Foot. In present-day Ger-
many Wilhelm Miiller is considered old-fash-
ioned and out-of-date. With the exception of a
few songs that have been 'set to music by eminent
composers, his poems are almost forgotten, his
Griechenlieder, which even twenty-five years ago
were memorized by German school-boys and re-
cited on public occasions, are looked upon to-day
as a literary curiosity ; the passionate note of free-
dom which ennobles these poems in spite of much
rhetoric, finds no response in the soul of the
modern German. The temper of the German
people has changed since the days of forty-eight
and the great Chancellor.
The edition is clearly a labor of love. The
editor has long been known as an admirer of
Wilhelm Miiller' s poetry. He has given us in
the past excellent English renderings of some of
Miiller' s poems. The text has been carefully
prepared (I have noticed only three errata : p.
12, 1. 20, insert ieh after mil ; p. 234, 1. 24,
read aufpflanzt ; p. 309, no. 17, read For-
tuned*) ; the arrangement of the poems enables the
reader to follow the growth of Miiller' s talent.
The most reliable editions have been used, the
critical apparatus supplies the variants. The
introduction gives a short biography of the poet,
but is somewhat disappointing. The external
events of Miiller' s life are faithfully related, new
material has been utilized, but the inner develop-
ment of the man and poet, his position among his
contemporaries, his place in German literature
are not adequately presented. The volume as a
whole is a distinct contribution of American schol-
arship to the study of modern German literature.
JOHN A. WALZ.
Harvard University.
CORRESPONDENCE.
Kin AND Jcinde IN HAMLET.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
gIRS :_ As the author of the article on the First
Folio in MLN., xxiv, 2, rightly remarks, there
is "good authority for the statement that the
vowel sound of kin and kinde in Hamlet's speech
was similar. ' ' It seems, however, doubtful whether
Jdnd(e') had "its older sound rhyming with wind
(n.)." From the rhyme-index in my book Shake-
speare's Pronunciation, i, p. 152, it will be seen
that Shakespeare makes kind rhyme not only with
words of its own class, but also with confined ; like-
wise find with assign' d and inclined, &c. In all
probability Shakespeare's long i was only slightly
diphthongised, as in the pronunciation of Gill,
who remarks that it was almost a diphthong, and
counts " ei pro I" among the "Mopsarum fic-
titise " which he proscribes. Cf. also such rhymes
as quickly : unlikely, V. & A. 990, and live : con-
trive, J. C. n, iii, 15 (1. c., p. 28).
WILHELM VIETOR.
Marburg University (Germany).
158
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 5.
"YsopETE" IN SPANISH.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — In an article on the " Ysopo " of Bur-
gos, published by Mr. Laubscher in the issue of
the Modern Language Notes for March of this
year, there occurs (p. 70) the following statement
in regard to the earliest use of the word "Yso-
pete ' ' in Spanish :
The word " Ysopete " found in the explicit is
unusual in most Spanish collections. It may,
therefore, be of interest to note that the earliest
use of it known to the Romance Seminary of
Johns Hopkins University is in an inventory of
1460 : ' ' Otro librete que es quesopete en papel,
etc."
In view of this, it is worth mentioning that
more than a century earlier, Juan Ruiz, in copla
96 of his Libro de Buen Amor, explicitly refers
to a fable-collection "Ysopete" as the source of
one of his fables :
Como la buena dueiia era mucho letrada,
sotil, entendida, cuerda, bien ruessurada,
dixo ala mi vieja, quele avja enbiada,
esta fabla conpuesta, de ysopete sacada.
H. R. LANG.
Yale University.
CHAUCER AND THE Cleomades.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — Mr. Hinckley's recent communication
to Modern Language Notes (xxiv, 95) in regard
to my contention that Chaucer before writing his
Squire's Tale had known the Cleomodes, raises an
objection to which I am by no means blind. It
is indeed somewhat perplexing that we should
find in the English poem neither phraseology nor
names at all similar to anything in Adenet's ro-
mance. Yet I regard this circumstance, though
possibly injurious, as by no means fatal to the
hypothesis which I hold. The tired parallel pas-
sage argument often fails to prove anything in
particular, — except, perhaps, that parallel pas-
sages meet at infinity. May not one make
shift with a cautious assumption of borrowing,
without buttressing his position with parallel pas-
sages ? Some time ago I virtually rested my case
for Chaucer's acquaintance with the Cleomades in
an article to which Mr. Hinckley has kindly re-
ferred in his Notes on Chaucer. To this I re-
curred somewhat casually in a note to my recent
study, "The Cleomades and Related Folk-Tales."
That I did not mention Mr. Hiuckley's opinion
there was doubtless due to my feeling that he was
only one of many excellent scholars who disagreed
with me. I sincerely regret that I should seem to
have ignored his Notes on Chaucer, which I have
consulted more than once with a great deal of
interest.
H. S. V. JONES.
University of Illinois.
A SOURCE FOR Christ, LL. 348-377.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — Professor Cook's excellent work in dis-
covering the sources of Cynewulf's Christ is, on
his own frank admission, subject to correction and
supplementation. I venture, therefore, to offer
some emendations.
Lines 348-377 he hesitatingly bases on the
antiphon
0 Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum,
super quern continebunt reges os suum,
quern gentes deprecebuntur : veni ad lib-
erandum nos, jam noli tardare.
The only apparent correspondences with this in
the text of the Christ are line 373 ne lain to lange
=jam noli tardare, and line 374 />cet />ii iis ah-
redde = ad liberandum nos. These lines, as will
be pointed out later, may be otherwise explained ;
the rest of the passage has no obvious relation with
0 Radix.
There is, however, a curiously indirect piece of
evidence which seems to indicate that Cyuewulf,
while composing the passage in question, was
thinking of
0 Sapientia, qua ex ore altissimi prodiisti,
attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter
suaviterque disponens onmia : veni ad do-
cendum nos viain prudentise.
May, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
159
In the antiphon itself, the clause ' quae ex ore
altissimi prodiisti ' is based on Eeclus. 24. 5 :
'Ego ex ore altissimi prodii, primogenita ante
omnem creaturam.' The curious fact is that
Cynewulf apparently uses not the part which
appears in the antiphon but the last four words
of the verse. His lines are as follows (348-354):
Eald fiu halga heofona Dryhten,
pH mid Feeder filnne gefyrn waere
efenwesende in fitim afitlan hum.
Nces eenig pa glet engel geworden,
ne fiies midan mcegenfirymmes nan
He in roderum up rice biwitiga'S,
fieodnes firyftgesteald ond his fiegnunga, —
Here it seems probable that Cynewulf has seized
on the words ' primogenita ante omnem crea-
turam ' and used them as a basis for poetic com-
ment on his favorite doctrine of the eternal co-ex-
istence of the Son with the Father ' in that noble
abode, ere yet any angel was created nor any of
the heavenly host. ' It is quite in keeping with
Cynewulf 's method that he should thus depart
from the content of the antiphon to follow up a
theme in which he was especially interested.
Lines 355-6
fid f>H serest wsere mid fione ecan Frean
sylf setlende fids sidan gesceaft,
brdde brytengrundas —
are perhaps a reminiscence of the ' fortiter suavi-
terque disponens omnia ' of the antiphon, though
the resemblance here is more remote.
Now it is necessary to dispose of lines 372-4 :
Oym nu, twlefia Cyning ;
ne lota to lange. Us is lissa fiearf, —
fi(et fiu us ahredde.
This passage resembles, as has already been men-
tioned, the ' veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli
tardare, ' which is the petition in 0 Radix. But
at the head of the list of the Greater Antiphons
in the Sarum Use (and hence immediately pre-
ceding 0 Sapientia, the first of the group), ap-
pears this versicle and response :
Festina, ne tardaveris, Domine : et libera
populum tuurn. Veni, Domine, et noli tardare :
relaxa facinora plebi tuse.
This versicle, the gloss states, is always sung before
the antiphon (ad initium hujus antiphonfe). The
association in Cynewulf's mind of the versicle
with 0 Sapientia is thus natural and almost inev-
itable ; and the similarity between his words and
the words of the versicle is quite evident.
ALFRED A. MAY.
Yale University.
CUMBERLAND'S EDITION OF CHAUCER.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — In Chaucer, a Bibliographical Manual,
Miss Eleanor P. Hammond describes an edition
of Chaucer published by John Cumberland. A
copy of this edition in the Yale University Library
corresponds in every detail to that described by
Miss Hammond. She dates the edition prior to
Singer's edition of 1822 ; but a footnote on page
18 of the first volume of Cumberland's edition is
as follows : " See Bo wring's translations of Ger-
man epigrams — London Magazine, 1824." The
date of this edition must therefore be after 1824
instead of before 1822. In 1826, when he began
to publish the British Theatre, Cumberland was
at 19 Ludgate Hill, and remained there until
August 1, 1828, when he moved to 2 Cumber-
land Terrace. In March, 1829, he was at 6
Brecknock Place, where he stayed until March
1, 1831, when he again moved to 2 Cumberland
Terrace, and remained there. The edition of
Chaucer must have been issued either between
August 1, 1828 and March, 1829, or after 1831,
unless we can surmise that between 1824-26 he
was at 2 Cumberland Terrace, and already en-
gaged in publishing.
ROSE ABEL.
Yale University.
HAMLET.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — Your February number (p. 41) con-
tains a perfectly valid criticism of a note in the
Porter and Clarke edition of Hamlet explaining
the line,
"A little more than kin, and less than kind."
The critic's own explanation, however, leaves
much to bo desired. The context itself would
seem to be sufficient to make the meaning clear.
160
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 5.
Moreover, in Karl Elze's edition of Hamlet, Leip-
zig, 1857, p. 120, the question is settled for good
and all. He writes : —
"'Kin' bedeutet die Verwandtschaft ausser
halb der Familie, die Vettersehaft ; ' kind ' die
Art, das Geschlecht, die Blutverwandtschaft,
Familie, und dann die zur Fortpflanzung und
Erhaltung des Geschlechtes erforderliche sittliche
Ordnung. Vielleicht in keinem englischen Schrift-
werk komrnt ' kind ' so haufig und in so unzwei-
deutigem Shine vor, als in The Tragedie of Gor-
boduc."
Following this note are copious examples to
illustrate the author's statement. I have counted
twenty-three cases of the occurrence of ' kind ' in
Gorbodue, often in antithesis to ' kin, ' and almost
always with the unmistakable sense of the imme-
diate family relationship. I subjoin in addition
some examples of ' kin ' in antithesis to expres-
sions synonymous with ' kind ' :
"Great is the love which nature doth inforce
From kin to kin, but most from sire to sonne."
Misfortunes of Arthur, in, i, 41-42.
" Kin or sonne. " Ib. , 46 and 48.
Arthur says of Mordred, who is "Nephew, Sonne,
or both,"
"My blood and kinred doubled in his birth,
Inspires a mixt, and twice descending love."
Id., v, i, 91.
And for 'kind,' in The Birth of Merlin, v, i,
where Merlin rescues his mother from the devil,
he says :
" Nature and kind to her commands my duty ;
The part that you begot was against kind.
So all I owe to you is to be unkind."
Doubtful Plays of William Shakespeare,
Tauchnitz, p. 347.
LEWIS F. MOTT.
The College of the City of New York.
BRIEF MENTION.
A GOETHE LIBRARY.
Verzeichnis einer Goethe-Bibliothek von FRIED-
RICH MEYER (xii and 707 pp., 8vo.). Leip-
zig : Dyk'sche Buchhandlung, 1908.
We have before us a large volume, enumer-
ating 7683 publications, by or on Goethe. The
list mentions first a facsimile of the ' ' Ordentliche
Wochentliche Frankfurter Tag- und Anzeigungs-
nachrichten" of Sept. 2, 1749, containing the
announcement of Goethe's birth. The last book
mentioned is volume 28 of the Goethe-Jahrbuch
of 1907.
Mr. Meyer, who is a bookseller in Leipzig,
actually possesses all publications mentioned in
the catalogue, except a few ones marked with
asterisks. To this collection belong about 5000
articles from newspapers and periodicals which
are not listed in the catalogue.
Meyer's Goethe-Bibliothek is with the sole ex-
ception of the famous Goethe-Library in Weimar
the most complete collection of Goethe books in
the world, and it would be impossible to duplicate
it. It contains practically everything pertaining
to text criticism and has all first editions with
only one exception, i. e. , Von deutseher Saukunst
D. M. Erwin a Steinbach. Very complete is
the collection of Goethe's contributions to peri-
odicals and almanacs. The polemic writings of
young Goethe and almost the entire literature
concerning Werther's Leiden and the Xenien
are at hand.
Goethe's administrative bulletins which he had
to issue to his subordinate officials in the Grand
Duchy of Weimar are to be found here. Their
circulation has, of course, been always very
limited.
Excellent bibliographical knowledge and great
persistency in collecting rare books are evidently
shown by Mr. Meyer. His work is not only of
high credit to German industry but also shows
the high educational standard which is to be
found among German booksellers.
It is very much to be desired that a collection
like this should be bought by some American
Institution. No similar opportunity will occur,
ever again. The author of this article is willing
to give any other information on Meyer's Goethe-
Bibliothek, which he may be able to supply.
A. C. VON NOE.
The University of Chicago.
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES
VOL. XXIV.
BALTIMORE, JUNE, 1909.
No. 6.
NOTES ON BROWNING.
THE SOURCE OF Christmas Eve — Saul — THE
TITLE, Men and Women — Pauline.
Last year I pointed out (Independent, 14 May,
1908) that in a letter to Elizabeth Barrett, 16
August, 1846, Eobert Browning definitely if un-
consciously, made a sketch which was later strictly
followed in the poem Christmas Eve (published 1
April, 1850). Miss Barrett had written to him
the day before a remarkable letter in which she
commented on the various forms of religious wor-
ship from Roman Catholicism to Unitarianism.
She said, ' ' Wherever you go, in all religious
societies, there is a little to revolt, and a good
deal to bear with — but it is not otherwise in
the world without ; and, within, you are espe-
cially reminded that God has to be more
patient than yourself after all. Still you go
quickest there, where your sympathies are least
ruffled and disturbed — and I like, beyond com-
parison best, the simplicity of the dissenters . . .
the unwritten prayer, . . . the sacraments admin-
istered quietly and without charlatanism ! and
the principle of a church, as they hold it, I
hold it too, . . . quite apart from state necessities
. . . pure from the law." She then goes on to
point out unpleasant things in non -conformist
worship — ' ' you feel moreover bigotry and ignor-
ance pressing on you on all sides, till you gasp
for breath like one strangled. But better this,
even, than what is elsewhere." (Letters, Har-
per edition, n, 427. )
To this letter Browning replied, " I know your
very meaning, in what you said of religion, and
responded to it with my whole soul — what you
express now, is for us both . . . those are my own
feelings, my convictions beside — instinct confirmed
by reason If in a meeting house, with the
blank white walls, and a simple doctrinal exposi-
tion— all the senses should turn (from where they
lie neglected) to all that sunshine in the Sistine
with its music and painting, which would lift
them at once to Heaven, — why should you not go
forth ? — to return just as quickly, when they are
nourished into a luxuriance that extinguishes,
what is called, Reason's pale wavering light, lamp
or whatever it is See the levity ! No —
this sort of levity only exists because of the strong
conviction, I do believe ! There seems no longer
need of earnestness in assertion, or proof ... so
it runs lightly over, like foam on the top of a
wave." (Letters, n, 434.)
Observe that in his letter Browning in imagin-
ation attends a simple bare meeting-house, from
which he flies to the church of Rome, and then
back to the meeting-house ; and this is exactly
(with the German interlude) what happens in the
poem Christinas Eve, and for precisely the same
reasons. Furthermore in the poem, he definitely
chooses the meeting-house, with all its stupidity,
in preference to other forms of worship — "I
choose here !" Again, he makes at the end of
the poem, exactly the same defense of what might
seem to others levity, that he makes in his letter :
And if any blames me,
Thinking that merely to touch in brevity
The topics I dwell on, were unlawful, —
Or, worse, that I trench, with undue levity,
On the bounds of the Holy and the awful,
I praise the heart, and pity the head of him,
And refer myself to THEE, instead of him ;
Who head and heart alike discernest,
Looking below light speech we utter,
When the frothy spume and frequent sputter
Prove that the soul's depths boil in earnest !
— Christmas Eve, first edition, Section xxil.
Compare the last two lines with the last line of
letter, quoted above.
These facts seem to me to prove two things,
first — that the poem Christmas Eve sprang directly
from this correspondence. Secondly — that Christ-
mas Eve is not primarily a dramatic poem, as many
have claimed, but that it is the deliberate expres-
sion of Browning's own religious convictions. This
has been denied by some authorities, and ques-
tioned by others (see Ethel M. Naish, Browning
and Dogma, London, 1906, and Professor Cun-
162
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
liffe's excellent article in Modern Language Pub-
lications, June, 1908). In view of what I have
directly quoted from Browning's letter above, I
cannot agree with Professor Cunliffe, when he
says of Browning's reply to Miss Barrett's letter,
" like a wise lover he concurs without saying any-
thing definite on his own side, beyond the safe :
' What you express now is for us both. ' ' It ap-
pears to me that he was quite definite, very dif-
ferent indeed (for example) from the way in which
Faust dodged Margaret's point-blank question,
Glaubst du an Gott f
A POSSIBLE SOURCE OF Saul.
One of my undergraduate students, Mr. Paul
Moore of New York City, called my attention last
year to a poem by Dr. John Brown (1715-1766),
The Cure of Saul (London, 1763), which he came
across in a miscellany. I find two copies of the
earliest editions of this book in the Yale Library,
one with the plain text, the other. " as it is per-
formed at the Theatre-Royal in Co vent Garden,"
with directions for singing. Mr. Moore thinks
that it is at least possible that Browning had read
this poem and taken a hint from it in composing
his own work, and I am inclined to agree with
him. Dr. Brown was not much of a poet, for in
his verses declamation roared while passion slept.
Yet there is one passage in Saul where Browning
uses the splendid figure of the rocky side of the
mountain revealed after the Spring snow-slide,
that might have been inspired by Dr. Brown.
In the latter' s version, David sings of the pro-
cesses of Creation from primeval chaos to light
and life, while
"In dumb surprise the list'ning Monarch lay."
Then
" Ocean hastens to his Bed :
The lab' ring Mountain rears his rock-encumber' d Head :
Down his steep and shaggy Side
The Torrent rolls his thund'ring Tide."
In Browning, we read
" Have ye seen when Spring's arrowy summons goes right
to the aim,
And some mountain, the last to withstand her, that held
(he alone,
While the vale laughed in freedom and flowers) on a
broad bust of stone
A year's snow bound about for a breastplate,— leaves
grasp of the sheet?
Fold on fold all at once it crowds thunderously down to
his feet."
Incidentally, we may note that the Dictionary
of National Biography miscalls Dr. Brown's work
"The CW of Saul."
THE TITLE, "MEN AND WOMEN."
While teaching Browning's Men and Women
in the University of California last summer, Mr.
John B. Alexander, of Honolulu, suggested to
me that possibly Browning might have taken the
title, Men and Women, from the Mimes of Soph-
ron. In Nairn's edition of the Mimes of Herodas,
Oxford, 1904, page xxiii, we find, "he wrote
two kinds of ju.tju.ot, called av&ptiot and ywaiKaoi ;
.... The subjects of these pieces were drawn from
the world of ordinary men and women." Nairn
refers in a footnote to Suidas, who said of Soph-
ron, t-ypmj/f /J.L/J.OVS dvS/xibus KOL jU.tju.ovs yvvatKeibvs.
Mr. Alexander says, " Browning, who had much
out of the way knowledge, might have adapted
the above expression as the title of his Men and
Women, his poems being far off descendants of
the mime." This seems to me at least possible,
as Browning delighted in reading just such things
as the above. Yet it is also barely possible that
Browning took the title from a statement that
Richardson made just before the appearance of
Grandison ; he said, ' ' the subjects are still the
same [as in Pamela and Clarissa'] love and non-
sense, men and women."
THE TEXT OF Pauline.
There are really three separate texts of
Pauline ; the first edition of 1833, the edition of
1868, with misprints corrected, and the final and
standard edition of 1888, with the diction thor-
oughly revised. In the preface to the 1868 edi-
tion of his collected works, the poet remarked
that he retained Pauline with extreme repug-
nance, but was forced to print it owing to the
certain appearance of transcripts. " By forestall-
ing these, I can at least correct some misprints
(no syllable is changed)." Browning of course
believed that the words in the parenthesis were
literally true ; but they are not. I have made a
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
163
very careful collation of all three texts, which I may
be able to publish some time, and it appears that
besides the correction of a few misprints, there
were some syllables (very few) absolutely changed ;
enough to make the text of 1868 a different text
from that of 1833.
WILLIAM LYON PHELPS.
Yale University.
NOTES ON BAIST, GRAMMATIK DER
SPANISCHEN SPRACHE,' 1906.
The following lines, in their first draught, were
meant to serve as a foot-note in an article on the
etymology of dueeho. Baist, Kritischer Jahres-
bericht iiber die Fortschritte der romanischen
Philologie vm, i p. 201, makes the statement :
' ' dueeho ist nur einmal handschr. bei Berceo
uberliefert, neben sonst einzig vorhandenem re-
gelmiissigem ducho." I wanted to show that
such statements as "nur einmal uberliefert,"
even when made by an authority like Baist, are
generally wrong. My remarks having outgrown
the space of a foot-note, I beg to publish them here
separately. B. § etc. refers to Baist, Gramm. d.
span. Sprache,a1906 = Grober, Grundr.'i p. 878.
1. B. §20 (p. 887): "uie [steht] lingua."
Munthe, Anteckniugar, 1887, p. 25, observes :
"i mot kast. e i tsingua . . . [BL (= bablelit-
eraturen) llingua och llen.g., gal. pg. ling. . . .]."
Meneudez Pidal, Manual,2 1905, § 11, 2 : " lin-
gua . . . hace en ... ast. occid. y central llin-
gua." Cf. e. g. La Olla asturiana p. 101 llingua.
In Fuero Juzgo (1815) linguaoccurs at least three
times : pp. 67 V. L. 13 Esc. 1. ; 115 V. L. 33
Bex.; ib. V. L. 34 B. R. I.1
2. B. § 23 : " [es heisst asp.] nicht eobdo." *
Diez, Et. Wb.* i s. v. Cubito ; Gessiier, Das
Leonesische p. 10 ; Menendez Pidal, op. cit. § 60,
1, claim an Old Spanish cobdo. Instances of
cobdo, cobdos are indeed not lacking. Cf. P. Cid
1 Contrary to Menendez Pidal, I do not believe that the
i in viuda, mingua, lingua is due to umlaut.
2 How does this statement agree with the one in § 52
(p. 905) concerning Leonese coldol Does not coldo pre-
suppose cobdo just as delda — dcbda etc.?
501. Alex. (Janer) 993 (= Morel-Fatio 1021).
Fuero de Sepiilveda pp. 67 ; 94 ; 105. Espejo
(1836) pp. 116 ; 117. Siete Partidas (1807)
I p. 159. Prim. Cron. Gen. p. 598 a 18. Libros
de Astr. i pp. 23 ; 25 ; 29 ; 30 ; 37 ; 53. n pp.
284 ; 285. Carlos Maynes (Bonilla) p. 514a.
Corvacho (Perez Pastor) p. 143. In 1534, Val-
d&s, Dial, de la lengua (Bohmer) p. 368, 19,
writes : " M [arcio] . Veo en vuestras cartas que
en algunos vocables poneis b donde otros no la
ponen, y decis cobdiciar cobdo dubda subdito ;
querria saber porque lo hazeis assi. V [aides].
Porque a mi ver los vocablos estan mas llenos y
mejores con la b que sin ella y porque toda mi
vida los he scrito y pronunciado con b."
Cf. also cobdal < cubitale. S. Domingo (San-
chez) 490 truchas eobdales.3 Siete Partidas i p.
159 palo cobdal, que se entiende por de un cobdo
en luengo.
3. B. § 29 : " Fidem [ist] nur fed fe uberlie-
fert."
Of the forms fee, Tratados de Cabreros (1206)
(Esp. Sagr. xxxvi Apend. pp. cxxxiii ; cxxxv ;
cxxxvii) etc., fey, Fuero Juzgo p. 60V. L. 23
Esc. 5. and similar phenomena I shall treat on
another occasion.
4. B. §60: "Alt la pro." More categori-
cally Krit. Jahresber. iv (1898-1900) I p. 301 :
" la pro (nur so altspan.)." Cf. also Krit.
Jahresber. vm, 1. Heft (Dec. 1906) i p. 198.
This error has been corrected, in the meantime,
by Hanssen, Sobre un Compendio de Gramatica
castellana anteclasica, Santiago de Chile, 1908, p.
12. Hanssen quotes pro g. m. from P. Cid (add
1112 en nuestro pro), Berceo, the Bible, Prim.
Cron. Gen. (add p. 77a 41 pro ninguno), Lu-
canor, Don Quixote, in the whole fourteen cases.
But the instances are much more numerous. Cf.
Alex. 358 el proe (— 1) (=M.-F. 366 el pro);
400 item (=M.-F. 408 el pro); 719 Algun proe
(+ 1) (=M.-F. 746 algundpro); Fuero Juzgo
pp. 7a Del pro, 6 del danno ; 20a Del pro 6 del
dampno ; 21a el pro y danno ; 147 V. L. 6 Toled.
and Malp. 2. el pro (Text la pro); 153b el pro
(cf. also V. L. 21). Boc. Oro pp. 87 el pro e el
8 Fitz-Gerald, in his edition, writes with MS. E cabdalet.
Ms. V (Sanchez) is here, as in other cases (cf. p. zzix),
preferable.
164
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
danno ; 143 poco pro ; 360 pro ninguno ; 376 La
pro que hot, omne en el oyr con sus orejas es propia
para si, e el pro de la su lengua es para los otros.
Buen. Prov. pp. 16 tamanno pro; 51 en cuyos
pros; 57 pro ninguno. Calila (Allen) pp. 26,
299 algun pro o dano ; 30, 431 enel dano e enel
pro. Espejo pp. 5 losproes; 90 todos los proes ;
384 todo el pro ; 390 el pro ; 410 item. Siete
Partidas i pp. 25 al pro ; 35 el pro • 44 item ;
55 La virtud et el pro (however 78 la virtud et la
pro; 94 item); 162 el grant pro ; 204 el pro 6 el
dano. in pp. 288 por cuyo pro ; 289 otro pro.
Libros de Astr. i pp. 34 el pro et el danno ; 68 &
nuestro pro. Concilios de Leon (1267) (Eap.
Sagr. xxxvi p. 234) losprodes. Berganza n pp.
487 (1274) el pro ; 489 item ; 490 item. Vigil
pp. 69a (1274) el proe comunal, 121a (1305)
el pro. 6 el danno. Juan Manuel, Libro del In-
fante (Gayangos p. 306a) el mayor pro. Cron.
D. Pedro (1779) p. 490, 26 el pro. Villasan-
dino (Cane. Baena, 1851, p. 114) al pro. Cane.
d'Herberay (Gallardo I c. 516) el pro presente.
5. B. § 84 (p. 914): "im Alex. . . . einmal
soy." *
In the eds. of Sanchez and Janer soy appears at
least four times : 1542 (—2); 1953 ; 2049 ; 2092
(-f- 1). Morel-Fatio, in the corresponding places
(1684 ; 2095 ; 2190 ; 2234 (+ 1)), reads so.
6. B. § 85 : " Starke Perfekta ... In 3 (init
Ausnahme von fue ; je einmal vie und fiz wahr-
scheinlich Fehler) [ist] -o der alteren Gestalt von
in (audiut) entnommen."
a) By the side of fue, Baist could have men-
tioned die (3) (Echo) Ann. EC. Haut. Et. 1901,
p. 113 note 2. Saroihandy says : " Oaneron,
torneron 6 ont ete refaits sur dieron. Ces formes
ont servi a leur tour pour former les personnes
* According to Baist, Zeitschrift xvi p. 532, all the MSS.
of Juan Kuiz have "durchweg" so, except MS. T. 1330
(= Ducamin 1356) which reads soy. But ssoy (soy) is read
MS. S. 76, 173, 317, 460, 465, 1028 ; MS. T. 1133, 1135,
1360; son (1) MS. T. 1435.
5 Not noted B. § 82 where, however, costc (3) (Ann. p.
113) etc. are recorded. The latter forms are connected by
Baist with betait, Altspan.Glossen 266 < vetavit. That is
possible. An old instance is Cronica de S. Juan de la Tefia
(1876) p. 48 Remiro . . . absenles (Lat. text absenlauit se)
del dito Regno. Still older would be Vida S. Maria Eg.
(Janer) p. 318b Conleles (sc. Gozimas) del leyon. The
Barcelona ed. of 1907, however, reads 1431 Conloles. Does
correspondantes du singulier : die (cast, did),
gane (cast, gand), tome, (cast, torno). Ou bien,
faudrait-il considerer die comme le representant
du latin dedit (*diede, *diee die) ? . . . I think
not, but see in die an analogic form.
b) Koerbs, 1893, p. 58, and Gassner, 1897,
§§ 318, 428, have indicated vie (3) twice in P.
Cid : 1096 Ya vie myo @id que Dios le yua va-
liendo. 2439 Algo vie myo (/id delo que era
pagado, Alco sos oios esteua adelant catando, E
via venir aDiego . . . Whether Baist has in mind
one of these cases or another, vie (3) belongs to
the inipf." and is not a mistake.
Other examples of the impf. via vies, resp.
vies, etc. are': P. Cid 2773 Ellos nol vien ni dend
this ed. deserve any more confidence than that of Janer ?
The editor conceals his name, a procedure against which
a strong protest is justified, and which might lead one to
answer the question in the negative. At any rate, caste
may also be due to the influence of costeron (Saroihandy ),
of costemos, cf. Ann, p. Ill gancmos, Garcia Arista, Cantas
baturras p. 62 :
Saquemos el Santo Cristo
pa ver si llovia, mafia,
y ahura hay que sacar la Virgen . . . ,
finally of costc (1).
6 1 would not deny the possibility of old vie perf. 3, but
I deny the possibility of proving it.
Modern vie is perf. 1. Andalusian instances are :
Marin in p. 456 Cuando te bie 'n la cama
A mi corason de ducas
Se le cayeron las alas.
P. 460 Faitigas me dieron,
Ganas e yorii,
Cuando yo bie-qu'a mi companera
La iban a enterra.
From vide (1) : Leyendas mor. I pp. 167 ; 168etc. Nunez
Delgado (Gallardo in c. 981). Diego Sanchez I p. 117. II
pp. 115 vide-.pide; 174. Lope de Kueda I pp. 94 ; 313.
Autos (Rouanet) I p. 25, 96. Novelas ej. (Leipzig, 1883)
p. 31. Qnatorze romances jude'o-espagnols, Rev. hisp. x p.
600. Marin n pp. 60 bide ; 143 item. Kimas infantiles,
Rev. de Extremadura v p. 62 bide.
The latter form is not mentioned by Baist § 85. He has,
however, along with -si perfects vise alxjut which one would
like to hear more.
'In Fernan Gonz. (Marden) 97 the MS. has Vyen se de
nuevo . . . With Mene'ndez Pidal,Arch. f. neuere Sprachen
cxiv p. 251, I prefer v\e]ijen se de n. Jose" (Schmitz) 11
reads i nunca mas le rien : bien : Zarayel : xazien, but Yucuf
(Mene'ndez Pidal) 21 i nunka lo beriyan : bu^'eno : Xeyana :
jaziUana.
More frequently I have met with via, vfas etc. In Fer-
nan Gonz. C8 the MS. reads vya lo el diablo. I see no cogent
reason to change to vio. Placidas p. 220 las gentes que su
June, 1909.J
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
165
sabien Ration. Prim. Crou. Gen. 586a 26 et
quando los moros vien que los querien matar, qui-
tauanlos a pleito que . . . Horozco, Cane. (1874)
pp. 165b vie (3) : que :fe :fue. 166a viedes :
avriedes : vedes :abredes. Autos (Rouanet) n p.
184, 511 vie (3). in pp. 308, 351 item. 440,
398 vien : Moysen.
Cf. rie (irapf. 3). Prim. Cron. Gen. 165a 43
E el menor era tan brauo et tan esquiuo de natura,
que numqua rie por cosa quel fiziessen. Et el padre
eramuy alerjre, et quando fazien iuegos, riye (V.L.
rie N, rrye CQ . . . ) mucho.
c) Offiz (3) I know several cases.
8. Lor. 61 Fiz el ome buenoman a memo suida.
The correct reading is without doubt Fizo.
Rim. Pal. 150 Como fis cada vno non se podrd
encelar. As Knust, Jahrb. vm p. 369, has no
remark on this line, I suppose Janer (copy of the
Campo Alange MS.) and the Escorial MS. have
bothyfz. By reading/00, the first hemistich would
become a verso de romance as the second is. It is
also easy to read fizo and yet make the first as well
as the second hemistich an alexandrine. But is a
change necessary ? This question involves several
other questions and among them this one : Are we
allowed at all and if so, to what extent, to surmise
that the later poets of the cuaderna via have writ-
ten, by the side of alexandrines, versos de romance ?
For the present I shall refrain from any opinion.
P. Alf. xi 74 La reyna donna Maria Este mal
fis departir. Baist, Span. Litt. p. 422, asserts :
" [Das Gedicht] ist in seiner kastilischen Uber-
lieferung sicher [cf., however, C. Michaelis de
Vascoucellos, Port. Litt. p. 204] Transskription
eines portugiesischen oder gallizischen Gedichts. "
Could jiz be a compromise of the author between
Port, fez and Span, fizo ?
»
sennor conoscian e man aquel mercador. Santillana pp. 128
vian; 345 via (1) ; 372 item; 380 ma (3) ; 399 via (1);
40-1 via (3) ; 430 vias. Gomez Manrique II p. 17 via (3).
Leyendas mor. I p. 331 via (3). Torres Naharro n pp. 318
Vias ; 366 man. Vald<5s, Dial. pp. 377, 12 via (1) ; 414,
32 vian. Horozco, Cane. p. 163b via (3). Primavera I p.
74 via (3). S. Teresa (B. A. E.) n pp. 35b via (3); 79a
via (1 ); 176a item ; 199b item. Autos I p. 128, 383 vias.
D. Quixote I (1605) 12 via (3) (cf. Clemencin I p. 251);
23 viamos ; 28 vian ; I (1608) 30 via (3). Marin II p. 137
bio, (3) (cf. p. 186 n. 17). in pp. 13 bin (1); 287 item.
Cane, panocho p. 86 vian. La Olla asturiana p. 101 via (3).
Cf. ria (impf. 3) La Olla asturiana p. 97.
Over against Jose' (Janer-Gayangos) 165 E
mando que diesen el dreeho, ansi lo mando facer,
E precio subido por el que fiz prender, JosS
(Schmitz) 154 reads por el cafiz. Gayangos, as
Schmitz explains in a note, " [liess] sich durch
die getrennte Schreibung elkafiz beirren."
Centou (B. A. E. xin) p. 6ab etc. fiz (3). I
mention these cases merely for the sake of com-
pleteness, but place no weight on them. Cuervo's
assertion, Dice, i p. li : " Fiz se dijo d cada paso
en lo antiguo por fize, como diz por dice, pero
jarnas por fizo, como a menudo aparece en el Cen-
ton" may need modification. On the other hand
it seems to me that C. Michaelis de Vasconcellos
is likewise going too far when, Rom. Forsch. vii
p. 126, slie declares with regard to these cases :
' ' [sie] gehoren zwar der archaischen Sprache an,
sind aber auch heute noch an den verschiedensten
Stellen der Halbineel durchaus volksublich." One
wants some proof.
d) With jfe (3) may be compared edit (3).
Fuero de Aviles (Fernandez-Guerra) p. 102, 72
edit en sua injirmitate. Cf. Fuero de Oviedo
(Vigil p. 15a) foe en sua enfermedad. The spell-
ing eatit (and not estid) may be considered a guar-
antee that the scribe did not carelessly omit a final
vowel. So is tot a better proof of apocope than
tod.
e) Also quis (3) is found. Estoria S. Maria
Eg. (Knust) p. 321 mas nuestro sennor non quis'.
This story is preserved in MS. h-i-13 of the Esco-
rial Library. The same MS. contains un muy
fermoso cuento de una santa emperatriz que ovo en
Rroma el de su castidat, edited by Mussafia, [Wie-
ner] Sitzungsber. LIII p. 499. P. 508, 14 we
have the statement Et desto vos quiero retraer
fermosos miraglos, asy eomo de latin fue tresladado
en frances et de frances en gallego. However this
may have to be interpreted, a great number of
Old Galician forms is found in all the parts of the
MS. I consider quis one of them.
Gassner, § 426, refers for an instance of quis
(3) to Jos6 (Schmitz) 4. The passage reads : i
no quis mas dudar. Yu§uf (Mene'ndez Pidal) 13,
however, has : non kixo max dubdar.
f) pris (3)? Sacrificio 246 quando priso la lan-
zada. Sanchez remarks in a note to the line :
' ' En este verso priso debe leerse pris por razon
del numero, como en otros pasages seraejantes se
166
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
observa. " It is a pity that he has not been more
explicit about the "otros pasages semejantes."
Until more evidence is brought forward, I shall
read quand (or quant or quan).*
g) Finally, as fiz (3) may be as well the
apocopated form of fizo as office, in order to prove
the survival of the Latin ending -it of strong per-
fects in Spanish, we need assured cases not of fiz
(jez) (3) etc., but office (fece) etc. Even then
caution is necessary. I have found once feze :
Espejo p. 156 E otrosi si alguno si (sic) querella
de otro al merino, quel feze tuerto . . . From Baist,
Span. Litt. p. 409, we learn that the Espejo was
written ' ' unter starker personlicher Beteiligung "
of Alfonso. Supposing that the passage is due to
the royal author of the Cantigas de Santa Maria,
it is no great wonder to find the Old Galician form
feze in the Castilian text. Alfonso uses feze, Cant.
I p. 38a.9
7. B. §85 (p. 915): "fed [flektiert] von 1
und 6 aus . . . fizo einmal/ezo." 10
I have sought for more cases and gathered the
following without difficulty : Fuero Juzgo pp. 8
V. L. 29 Camp, and Bex. ; 38 V. L. 22 Toled. ;
58 V. L. 13 Camp. ; 83b ; 95 V. L. 34 Camp.;
129a desfezo ; 147 V. L. 22 E. E. Prim. Cron.
Gen. pp. 509a V. L. 42 ; 546a V. L. 36-40 ;
614b V. L. 23. Document from ?1273 (Fer-
nandez-Guerra, Fuero de Aviles p. 81). Pldcidas
pp. 126 feso (and' so always ; the MS. has most
8Cf. Fuero de Avilfe pp. 97 Quan se larnar acasa (F. de
Oviedo p. 13 quando); 98 Quant li mtgaren (F. deO. p. 13
quando). Raz6n de Amor (Mendndez Pidal) 21 quan su
amir/o uiniese; 24 quan comiesse; 98 Quant la mia senor
eeto dizia; 131 quant conozco men amado; 133 quant co-
nozco meo amirjo. S. Millan 31 quand fincar non podieron.
79 El Bispo quant lo via. 156 Sant Millan quant la vio.
410 quant eran alvergadas. Prim. Cr6n. Gen. pp. 391 b 7
quand esto uio. 437b 28 Quand esto oyo. 461a 11 quand
prisiera. Libros de Astr. I pp. 61 en uerano quan es el
liempo mas temprano, Ib. esto es quan el sol enlra en cancro.
Ib. ell otonno quan entra el sol en el signo. 80 Et quand mars
el saturno se ayuntan. Ib. dos planetas quand son en el sir/no.
94 el quand suben (sc. las estrellas). Thus still in Graus
(Aragon), cf. Ann. EC. Haut. Et. 1898 p. 86 / cuan ya
s'en iba su llo.
In numerous cases where the text has quando. the
apocopated form is required by the metre.
"Quoted by Lang, Denis p. 133.
10 If Baist wants " einmal " to be understood here as a
temporal adverb, the note is superfluous.
likely fezo); 127; 140; 142; 153. Erey Gui-
llelme pp. 192 feso (same MS. as Placidas); 209 ;
246. Carlos Maynes p. 504b. The form is prob-
ably not Castilian.
*****
Since the above notes were written, I have col-
lected the following additional material.
Ad 2) The form cobdo, cobdos is frequent in
Fuero Gen. de Navarra (1869); cf. pp. 8b, 25a,
50b, 70a, 71b, 78b, 102a, 104a, 128a, 130b,
135b, 1401), 141a. It is still found in Judeo-
Spanish, cf. Subak, ZrP. xxx p. 156.
Ad 6a) note 5) With regard to conte (3), Prof.
Harden writes me (letter of Feb. 1, 1909) that
this is the reading of the MS. Cf. also Toma's,
Rev. dial. rom. no. 1 p. 116.
Ad 6f) and g) Cf. Cr6nica de S. Juan de la
Pena (1876) p. 15 Et aquedi prese (Latin text ^
cepit) en Eapana laprouincia de Tarragona. The
editor's work has been severely criticised by Baist,
ZrP. ii p. 473. From the fact, however, that he
adds to prese the note "prisio" (!), one might
conclude that at least in this case he has been
careful.
Ad 7) Fezo is not limited to the Northwest, as
I had thought at first. Cf. Fuero Gen. de Na-
varra pp. la, 13ab, 17a, 73b, 80a, 95a, 141ab.
Brutails, Docum. des Arch, de la Chambre des
Comptes de Navarre (1196-1384) pp. 46 ; 74 ;
110. Libro del Principado de la Morea p. 59.
The University of Chicago.
K. PlETSCH.
MARLOWE, DOCTOR FAUSTUS 13. 109.
In Mod. Lang. Notes for May, 1906, I sug-
gested that Marlowe, in Faust-us 13. 109, may
have written 'AmymoneV for the printed
' Arethusa's.' I had then overlooked the fact
that Marlowe was familiar with the legend of
Amymone, as is evidenced by his translation of
Ovid, Amor. 1. 10. 5-8. This, of course, is in
favor of my conjecture. Ovid's first four lines
are :
Qualis ab Eurota Phrygiis avecta carinis,
Conjugibus belli caussa duobus erat ;
Qualis erat Lede, quam plumis abditus albis
Callidus in falsa lusit adulter ave ;
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
167
to which he adds :
Qualis Amymone siccis errabat in agris,
Cur premeret summi verticis urna comam —
Talis eras ; aquilamque in te taurumque timebani,
Et quicquid magno de Jove fecit Amor.
The last four lines are thus translated by Mar-
lowe :
Such as Amymone through the dry fields strayed
When on her head a water pitcher laid,
Such wert thou ; and I feared the bull and eagle,
And whate'er Love made Jove, should thee inveigle.
Here we have three nymphs, and four lovers
implied — ? IVnelaus, Paris, Neptune, and Jupiter ;
though the o.nphasis at the close is clearly upon
Jupiter. Ovid certainly knew, and Marlowe
could not have been ignorant, that the lover of
Arnymoue was Neptune : witness Ep. 19. 129-
132 (Hero toLeander):
At tibi flamraarum meraori, Neptune, tuarum
Nullus erat vends impediendus amor,
Si neque Amymone, nee laudatissima forma
Criminis est Tyro fabula vana tui.
CYNEWULF, Christ 930-940.
Crashes the deep creation, while from the face of the Lord
Bolls the billowing fire, broadening over the earth,
Hurtling in horrible flame. Asunder the heavens are rent,
And from the heights of the air ruin the steadfast stars.
Then doth the sun, that erewhile shone for the joy of
earth's children,
Turn to the hue of blood, a blot on the face of the sky ;
Likewise the moon, a light for mankind in the night-time,
Plunges adown with the scattering stars, that, beaten by
tempest,
Fall through the furious air, and vanish in darkness.
ALBERT S. COOK.
Yule University.
CHORLEY'S CATALOGUE OF COMEDIAS
AND AUTOS OF FREY LOPE FELIX
DE VEGA CARPIO.1
The following notes may serve to correct and
supplement in a modest way certain details of the
only comprehensive bibliography of the great
'Reedited in Rennert's Life of Lope de Vega, Glasgow,
London, Philadelphia, 1904, pp. 419-549.
Spanish dramatist. It is taken for granted that
the reader has before him the more recent pub-
lications of Professor Reunert bearing on the sub-
ject,2 the Academy edition of Lope's works, more
especially Vol. xm (and in particular pp. xli-ii),
and Restori's excellent reviews of this edition.
Professor Rennert has made but scant use of
modern contributions 3 to the study of the Spanish
drama, or of Lope in particular. But surely the
work of Farinelli, Gigas, Holberg, Martinenche,
Menendez y Pelayo, Restori, Schweriug, Stiefel,
Te Winkel, and others, has not been wholly in
vain !
The "Paries."
It is to be regretted that Chorley's census of
extant copies has not been extended.4 Professor
Schevill has attempted something of the kind for
'Notes on some comedias of Lope de Vega, MLR., Jan.,
1906 ; Notes on the chronology of the Spanish drama, ibid.,
July, 1907 ; The staging of Lope de Vega's comedias, RH.,
1907 ; Spanish actors and actresses, ibid.
3/. e., since 1864, the date of Chorley's revision. The
editor states, however (pp. 417-418), ''I have embodied
the supplementary information which Chorley would have
included, had it been available in his time."
4 The National Library, Paris, has the following vol-
umes,— as in the other libraries noted below, not always
correctly catalogued:—!, Z., 1G04, A., 1607; n, V.,
1009, M., 1610, B., 1611, A., 1611 ; HI, M., 1613 ; iv,
P., 1614 ; vn, M., 1617 ; vm, M., 1617 ; ix, B., 1618 .
x, B., 1618; xi, M., 1618; xn, M., 1619; xm, M.,'
1620; xiv, M., 1620; xv, M., 1621; xvi, M., 1622 ;
xvn, M. (F. Correa de Montenegro), 1621 ; xvm, M.,
1G23; xix, V., 1627; xx, M., 1625; xxi, M., 1635 ;
xxn, Z., 1630, M., 1635; xxm, M., 1638 ; xxiv, Z.,
1G41 ; xxv, Z., 1647; La Vega, del Parnaso, 1637. It is
very probable that there are copies in the Mazarine and
Arsenal Libraries. The National Library, Florence, has
the following : i, Z., 1626 ; in, B., 1614; vm, B., 1617 ;
xi, B., 1618 ; xix, M., 1625 ; (so on title-page, but in the
colophon we read, En Valladolid Par la viuda de Francisco
de Cordova. Ano de MDUXXVll) ; xx, M. 1625 ; xxi,
M., 1635 ; xxn, M., 1635 ; xxm, M., 1638. The Maru-
cdliana has: i, V., 1609 ; II, M., 1618; vn, B., 1617.
According to Teza (JREL., xi), the following are in the
University Library of Bologna: I, V., 1605; v, 1609;
xiv, M., 1620 ; xx, M., 1625 (not 1623 as in Teza).
There are, doubtless, many other copies in Italy, «. g. , at
Naples (alluded to in Restori's studies). How rich in
Lope's dramas some of the German and Austrian libraries
must be, may be inferred from Julius', Munch. -Belling-
hausen's, and Stiefel's stray references. Finally, from
the works of Barrera, Mene'ndez y Pelayo, PeVez Pastor
and other Spanish scholars some idea can be formed of the
168
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
P. I." Another cause for regret is that reference
has not been facilitated by numbering the editions
a, b, c, etc.
Attention may be called to an uncut copy of P.
xxir in the National Library, Florence. It is
probably unique (?), and shows that the volumes,
originally fully one-half inch wider and three-
quarters of an inch taller, with ample margins,
were much more stately in appearance than is
usually supposed by those who have seen only
dumpy, cropped copies.
I. Z., 1604, bears in the colophon the date
1603. This may account for Salva's contention
that an edition was published at Z., 1603. — It is
passing strange that a Salv£ has not noticed the
slight change in the title-pages of two copies of
V., 1609, in the Brit. Mus.; 1072, K. 12 reads
incorrectly vendense, corrected in 11726. K. 3 to
vendese. Stiefel argues for the possibility of Z.,
1624 (noted by Barrera); ZRPh., xv, 222.
II. Restori, in ZRPh., xxx, 226, notes an
edition, published at Madrid, " por la viuda de
Alonso Perez de Montalvan, 1621."-— The Brit.
Mus. has two copies of A., 1611. A., 1612 is in
the Munich Library ; ef. Stiefel, ZRPh., xv, 223.
III. M., 1613, is in the Royal Library, Mu-
nich ; cf. Stiefel, ZRPh., xxni, 100, n.
V. Chorley, doubtless, erred in assigning an
edition to M. , 1616. Tieck's copy in the Brit.
Mus. has a defective title-page, and someone has
written Madrid at the bottom of it. The copy is,
however, identical, folio for folio, with the Bar-
celona edition of 1616. Perez Pastor (Biblio-
grajla madrilena, n, 397), who knows the vol-
ume only from Chorley' s reference, likewise,
doubts its existence.
VIII. Chorley had the Madrid edition (im-
perfect, with parts from B. ), but not that of
Barcelona. It is this factitious volume which the
Lope treasures in Peninsular libraries. I refrain from
publishing here notes that I have myself made in Madrid.
Not until something like a complete census is made, with
accurate descriptions, will it be possible to solve certain
outstanding difficulties in the complex bibliography of the
greatest of Spanish dramatists.
*RF., 1907, 331. My copy of the Antwerp edition
might be added ; see, also, below.
Brit. Mus. catalogue terms "another edition."
Perez Pastor, ibid., n, 371, doubts its existence.
XI. Chorley had M. (imperfect), but not B.
The Brit. Mus. has, however, a sound copy of
M. , with a new title-page ; — one whole set in the
Brit. Mus. is redated 1667 !
XII. Most assuredly there were not two issues
in this year. The two editions are identical, ex-
cept for the shield on the title-page. Salva, com-
mercial bibliographer as he was, grossly exag-
gerated when he called these editions " perfecta-
mente diversas" ; cf., also, Perez Pastor, II, 511.
XIII. Surely it is a well-known fact that the
Madrid edition consists of two parts and that the
second part was approved of later than the first
(September 19 and November 9, 1619, respect-
ively). See, also, P6rez Pastor, 11, 553-4, and
Restori, ZRPh., xxm, 432.
XV. Why not note, also, that in the prologue
to the previous volume, Lope states that he had
written 900 plays ? Similar remarks are found
in other prologues.
XVI. The copies belonging to the Brit. Mus.
and Chorley are more probably of the year 1622.
The fee de erratiis is dated December 15, 1621.
Salva had remarked that at least two copies
changed 1621 to 1622 ; Chorley' s copy has
a manuscript title-page. It may, indeed, be
doubted, despite Salva's statement, whether
there was more than one edition. The copies in
the Brit. Mus. have the same number of folios as
Salva's. The copy in the Bibl. Nac., Madrid,
described by P6rez Pastor, in, 65, is dated 1621,
but is identical in other respects with those noted
above. As the/ee de erratas is dated December
15, 1621, it is possible that some title-pages were
struck off with the date 1621.
XVII. Professor Rennert quotes Salvd's state-
ment : ' ' There were two issues in each of these
years (1621, 1622)." But the work was printed
only once. Fernando Correa de Montenegro first
published this part in 1621. The foliation, — I
have in mind 11726. K. 25 of the Brit. Mus.,—
is correct up to 304 ; then come 205-212. Mean-
while Correa died, and his widow had a new title-
page printed bearing her name (Brit. Mus.,
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
169
11726. K. 24). At the same time,— or before —
the foliation was corrected up to 310 (followed
incorrectly by 211). Salva notes that the Viuda
de Martin' s edition was identical line for line, and
that the last folio was wrongly numbered 212.
Barrera erred in stating that the Brit. Mus. and
Chorley (and Labouchere ?) had editions of 1621
published by the Viuda de Alonso Martin. Did
this mistake originate with Chorley ?
XVIII. Salvii's statement that he had an edi-
tion dated 1622 is corroborated by Perez Pastor's
reference to a copy in the National Library, Ma-
drid. The tea was signed December 6, 1622.
The Brit. Mus. has the 1623 edition, but not that
of 1625, which probably does not exist.
XIX. There is no proof of the existence of a
1623 edition. The Brit. Mus. has not got a copy.
Nicolas Antonio's statement alone remains ; he
may have intended the 1625 edition. The tasa
was signed February 27, 1624.
XX. There are two editions (issues?) of 1625 ;
one by the Viuda de Alonso Martin, 298 fols.
(Brit. Mus., 11726. 1. 3). The publisher's name
is given in the colophon. Salva notes the second
edition, which is apparently identical, save that
Juan Gonzalez's name appears at the end. Res-
tori, however, says that Gonzalez's edition "ha
fregi e caratteri tipografici meno belli " (ZRPh.,
xxvin, 255). It may be noted that in the 1627
edition, Juan Gonzalez used the same shield as
the Viuda de Martin in the edition of 1625. The
last folio of the 1627 edition is incorrectly num-
bered, 289 for 298 ; in one Brit. Mus. copy
(11726. 1. 2) this has been very cleverly cor-
rected. Although the 1625 and 1627 editions
have the same number of folios, they are not
identical folio for folio.
XXII. Salva' s copy of the 1630 edition
might have been noted. The Brit. Mus. (1072.
k. 3) and the National Library, Paris, have
copies of the 1635 edition with engraved title-
pages. Other copies, including mine, have a
printed page.
XXIV. What evidence is there for assigning
an edition to the year 1632 ?
XXV. 1640 ? Cf. Stiefel, ZRPh., xv, 222-3.
COMEDIAS."
Acertar errando. Chorley observes in his suelta,
that this is a mature work, — one gets a somewhat
different impression from the Rennert-Chorley
note. The repeated attacks on culteranismo (fols.
10, 11, etc.) and the full development of the
gracioso, are indicative of a comparatively late
date of composition. The conjecture may be
hazarded that El embaxador ftngido, referred to
in the closing verses, is a contemporary play, not
necessarily written by Lope himself. Is Acertar
errando the same comedia as Acertar por yerrot
Cf. Restori, Piezas de titulos . . ., p. 189.
As an example of the inaccuracies which mar
Professor Rennert's compilations, it may be noted
that in his edition of Chorley' s bibliography (p.
491) he, or Chorley, states that Acertar errando
is not in Seis comedias de Lope de Vega Carpio,
Lisbon, 1003. Professor Rennert even charac-
terizes the statement, as made in the Catdlogo de
las piezas ... en la Bib lioteca national, as " mere
conjecture." So it is, but in his Notes on the
chronology of the Spanish drama (1907), p. 332,
we are again calmly informed that the play was
" Printed in Lisbon, 1603" (!!).
Al pasar del arroyo, Hartzenbusch (1, 393)
noted the allusion to an event which occurred
Nov. 19, 1615.
Amante agradecido. The following reference
(fol. 103) determines the date :
Veru a Valencia, que es bella,
y desde alii yre a Madrid ;
passaru a Valladolid,
que ya esta la Corte en ella.
The Corte was transferred January, 1601. One
gathers that the play was written during Lope's
6 In order to economize space, the interludes, neglected
by Chorley, and the numerous manuscripts (often late)
in the Municipal Library, Madrid, are not indicated in
this review. Some plays not discussed here will be re-
ferred to later, in a chronological list of Lope's plays.
Translations and adaptations have, likewise, been omitted
from these notes. Only in exceptional cases are Mene'ndez
y Pelayo's and Kestori's studies referred to ; they contain
much material that ought to have been noted by Professor
Rennert, but which would swell the present notice to un-
pardonable proportions. Plays attributed to Mira de
Amescua will be discussed elsewhere.
170
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
sojourn in Sevilla, — possible evidence to support
Barrera's contention that Lope was at Sevilla in
1601 (?).
Amantes sin amor. This play would deserve a
detailed study. The date (1601-3) can be deter-
mined by the following lines :
Partiste con mil estremos
Luego que se caso el Key (i. e., 1599)
a Italia con el Virrey
Conde de Villalva y Lemos (fol. 10).
Elsewhere (fol. 4 vo. ) we learn that more than a
year had elapsed since then. This same play has
one of many references to Ganasa, which will be
studied in a separate article. An attempt will
there be made to test Francesco Bartolo's state-
ment, "Da lui (i. e., Ganasa) impararono gli
Spagnoli a fare le loro commedie ..." Notizie
storiehe de'comici 1780 (?), p. 249. '
In this same play there is, finally, — and many
other points ought to be commented upon — an
allusion to a song, the composition of which has
wrongly been attributed to Tirso de Molina. Lope
quotes only the refrain :
Pareceis molinero amor,
y soys moledor.
In El Hamete de Toledo (written after 1610, cf.
below) he again quotes from it :
Molinico porque no mueles ?
Porque me beuen el agua los bueyes.
Francisco de Torillo y Figueroa later expanded it
into letrilla, Pareceis molinero, amor . . .(Rivad.,
XLII, 75 ).8
Amar, servir y esperar. Alludes (fol. 56) to
Guadalca9a's defense of Peru against the Dutch
and English. He was viceroy 1621-8. Rubens,
who was in Madrid in 1628 (also in 1605), is
referred to (fol. 52).
Amar sin saber a quien. Written after 1604-5 :
7 Since writing the above, there has appeared Cotarelo
y Mori's article on Ganasa in the Revistade Archivos, July-
August, 1908. None of the many allusions to Ganasa in
Lope's dramatic works are noted ; nor has Sr. Cotarelo
called attention to a speech in Lope's El genoues liberal,
written in the Bergamask dialect.
8 See, also, Acad., xn, xcv.
Don Quixote de la Mancha
(Perdone Dios a Cervantes) 9
Fu£ de los extra vagantes
Que la coronica ensancha (Rivad., 444).
As Madrid was the capital of Spain, the comedia
was, moreover, composed after 1606. It has
been edited by Kressner (1901).
Amiga (El) hasta la muerte. This is only the
first part :
Aqui se quede
Por hoy la primera parte
Del amigo hasta la muerte.
It ought to have been noticed that the first and
last lines of the manuscript in the National
Library, Madrid, are entirely different. Is this
copy the missing second part ?
Amistad y Obligadon. Chorley noted, in his
suelta, that this play belongs to Lope's most
mature period, ' ' siendo muy rica en lo dramdtico,
y de feliclsima hechura en euanto al estilo."
Amor con vista. Is there a reference to this
comedia in El guante de Dona Blancal We
read there :
DoHa Blanco..
Pudiendo buscar modo
Para vernos de noche con secreto ?
Rey(ap.).
Ni amor con vista ni galan discrete ; —
(Rivad., 25c.)
Amor enamorado. Played, and doubtless writ-
ten, in 1635 ; so says Wurzbach (not an author-
ity) in Lope und seine Komodien, p. 136. Me-
n£ndez y Pelayo, Acad., vi, Ixxvi, states that it
must be one of the last plays of our author. In
fact, from the opening lines of Act in and the
reference to the Buen Retiro, one would, at least,
infer that it was composed during, or after, 1632.
Amor secreto hasta celos. The closing verse
gives the title, Secreto amor hasta zelos.
Angelica en el Catay. Acad., xm.
Anzuelo (El) de Fenisa. Triguero's adapta-
tion is entitled La Buscona 6 El Anzuelo de Fenisa.
* It does not necessarily follow from the second line that
Cervantes was dead. Lope de Vega's relations with Cer-
vantes will be discussed elsewhere. Professor Kennert has
not even compiled all that he might have found on the
matter at second-hand !
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
171
Arauco domado. Written not long before 1625 ;
cf. Meneudez y Pelayo, Acad., xir, clxxii.
Argel (El) fingido y renegade de amor. The
play is cited in P. Note, also, the reference in
El Pelegrino . . . ed. Obras sueltas, v, 463.
Atalanta (La). May be Adonis y Venus ; cf.
Restori, ZRPh., xxm, 451.
Ausente (El) en el lugar. This play contains
one of many references to La bella malmaridada,
which was, however, a popular phrase, as well as
the title of Lope's play.
Buena guarda (La). Two verses of the work
occur in other contemporary comedias (cf. Mira's
El Esclavo del demonio, 1. 301 ; also, El Diablo
predicador, ed. Rivad., p. 331 c). Lope's ver-
sion is :
Considerad que hay infierno,
Muerte y vida, pena y gloria (Rivad., 337).
Caballero (El) del milagro. The title at the
close is, El (not y) arrogante Espanol. This same
title occurs within the play. According to Pro-
fessor De Haan (An outline of the history of the
novela picaresca in Spain, p. 21), it was Agustin
de Rojas' Elviaje entretenido (1603) that brought
the expression Caballero del milagro into vogue.
Lope's play must have been written, therefore,
about 1603, — it is cited in P.
( To be continued. )
MILTON A. BUCHANAN.
University of Toronto.
A POEM ADDRESSED TO ALEXANDRE
HARDY.
In spite of the numerous and patent defects in
most of Hardy's work, his importance as the first
conspicuous writer of popular dramas in modern
France continues to give value to any contri-
bution concerning his life or his plays, especially
as documents known to refer to him are exceed-
ingly few and brief. I would therefore call atten-
tion to a poem that has been neglected even by
M. Rigal, who has written the authoritative biog-
raphy of Hardy. It is addressed to the play-
wright by his contemporary, Isaac Du Ryer,
author of occasional poems published under the
titles of Temps perdu1 and Les Heures derobees.*
The poem, found on pages 29-30 of the latter
work, runs as follows :
Au Sieur Hardy.
Assez longtemps et trop souuent
De tes escris l!on a fait conte,
Souffre, Hardy, doresnauant
Qu'une ieunesse te surmonte
Et quelque grands labeurs que tu mettes au iour
Quelle [sic] oflnsque ta gloire, et paroisse i son tour.
Excuse moy si ie te dis,
Bien que tu sois une merueille,
Que leurs beaux vers dont tu mesdis
Plus que les tiens charment 1'oreille,
Tes vers sont un plain chant ordinaire et commun,
Et les leurs un concert qui rauit un chacun.
Mais ce n'est pas moy seulement,
Qui suis pour eux, et qui les loue,
Tons ont le mesme sentiment,
Et le plus critique 1'aduoue,
Toy mesme par ton fiel, ta rage et ta douleur,
Tu tesmoigne [sic] quelle est leur force et leur valeur.
Mais pourquoy ces ieunes esprits
Ne seront-ils cheris des Muses?
As-tu seul leur mestier appris?
Sont-elles dans toy seul infuses ?
Non, non, Hardy, crois-moy sans plus estre enuieux
Qu'elles cherissent plus les ieunes que les vieux.
As the only copy of the Heures derobees that I
have been able to find shows neither permission to
print nor acheve d'imprimer, I cannot assign the
collection an earlier date than 1633, but it is cer-
tain that the poems were written before October,
1632, as Hardy is known to have been dead at
that time.3 Two poems of the collection were
written after October 28, 1628, for they celebrate
Richelieu's capture of La Rochelle. All were
probably composed later than 1624, for otherwise
they would have been apt to appear in the Temps
perdu, the last edition of which came out in that
year. These facts, taken in connection with the
references to Hardy's old age and the success of
his young dramatic rivals, make 1630-32 the
most probable dating for the poem.
For it was only towards 1630 that Hardy was
surpassed in popularity by a band of young dram-
1 Paris, 1609 (second edition), 1610, 1624.
2 Paris, 1 633. There is a copy in the Bibliotheque de
1' Arsenal.
8 Cf. Eigal, Alexandre Hardy, p. 38, Paris, 1889.
172
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
atists. His older rivals, The'ophile, Racan, and
Gombaud, do not constitute a sufficiently large or
prolific group. The first of these died in 1626.
It is when the others were joined by Mairet, Cor-
neille, Rotrou, Tristan, Pierre Du Ryer, and
Scudery that a definite step is made in the de-
velopment of the drama with a more accurate
psychology, more careful construction, and a
greater purity of thought and expression, often
accompanied by a no less popular preeiosit&.
These qualities, answering the demands of an
audience whose refinement was steadily increas-
ing, won success for the plays of the new school,
while those of the old leader appeared corres-
pondingly antiquated. It is not surprising if the
change brought out expressions of ' ' fiel, rage, et
douleur. ' '
To Hardy's jealousy of his young rivals, as
here described, was probably due the faint praise
he is said to have bestowed on Corneille's Melite,
which, according to the Mercure yalant he called a
"jolie bagatelle," according to Fontenelle, "une
assez jolie farce."4 At the same time his feeling
may have been exaggerated by Du Ryer, whose
tone indicates a personal hostility to the old
dramatist, produced by professional jealousy, for
he, too, had attempted the drama,6 or by his
friendship for the younger generation, among
whom were numbered his son, Pierre, and his
friend, Tristan 1'Hermite, to whom he wrote two
complimentary poems published in the Heures
derobees.6
H. CARRINGTON LANCASTER.
Amherst College.
SILENCE AND SOLITUDE IN THE
POEMS OF LEOPARDI.
It has often been said that the greatness of a
man does not depend upon the pleasures he enjoys
but upon the sufferings he undergoes. Among
Italians who prove the truth of this saying none
4 For a discussion of these criticisms see Kigal, op. tit. ,
pp. 59-61.
5 In his pastorals, La Vengeance des salt/res, Paris, 1614,
and Le Manage (f amour, Paris, 1631.
6 Pour Monsieur Tristan and A Monsieur Tristan sonnet.
stand forth more clearly than Dante and Leo-
pardi. Both drained the cup of bitterness to the
dregs. Dante's lofty patriotism and uncompro-
mising uprightness of character brought upon him
endless woe during his days on earth, and Leo-
pardi's physical and mental sufferings doomed
him to a brief life full of misery. And yet had
Leopardi and Dante suffered less, the world would
probably have been deprived of two of its greatest
poets. While Dante sang the sorrows of sinners
in the other world and the happiness of the
blessed, Leopardi sang the bitter fate of mankind
in this world of ours. It is true the latter poet
sang first of all his own misfortunes and his own
despair, but behind the manifestations of his indi-
vidual sufferings, the accents of universal misery
and sorrow ring out as clearly as they do in
Hamlet's famous soliloquy. Leopardi was a pes-
simistic poet — he has been called even the poet of
pessimism. This pessimism sprang from the pro-
found conviction that although man always strives
after happiness and his great need is happiness,
yet he can never attain the object of his strivings.
According to Leopardi, man is sure of nothing
but of sorrow and death.
My present aim is not to enter upon a philo-
sophical analysis of our poet's pessimism. I wish
to call attention to two particular traits, namely,
silence and solitude, which are profoundly stamped
upon his poetry. Silence and solitude, indeed,
seem to have been among the frequent means by
which he gave expression to his pessimism.
In the following I shall adhere to the chrono-
logical order of the poems and I shall begin with
the Frammento of 1816.
In the midst of an almost universal silence a
maiden goes forth alone in search of love. All
nature smiles around her and the only sounds
heard are those of the rustling of leaves and the
sad song of a nightingale. Suddenly the land-
scape changes : A thunderstorm springs up ac-
companied by a pelting rain. Darkness reigns
everywhere and the maiden's heart is filled with
fear — so much so that when the storm abates at
last, she is dead, turned to stone — ' Ella era di
pietra' — as the poet sings.
Among various other features of this poem,
there are two which impress themselves strongly
upon the reader's mind : They are a deep silence
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
173
which enframes, so to say, the whole poem and
the weird solitude of the love-stricken maiden.
She walks alone — from joy to fear and from fear
to death. When the poein opens, silence reigns
everywhere :
Spento il diurno raggio in occidente,
E queto il fumo delle ville, e queta
De'cani era la voce e della gente ;
A little further on, the maiden is seen walking
alone :
Sola tenea la taciturna via
La donna, e il vento che gli odori spande,
Molle passar sul volto si sentia.
Suddenly a threatening cloud appears :
Un nugol torbo, padre di procella,
Sorgea di dietro ai monti, e orescea tanto,
Che pid non si scopria luna ne Stella.
The end of the poem describes the maiden's death :
E si rivolse indietro. E in quel momento
Si spense il lampo, e torno buio 1'etra,
E acchetossi il tuono, e stette il vento.
Taceva il tutto ; ed ella era di pietra.
The next poem— II Primo Amore — is usually
printed after the Frammento, and was composed
in 1817. Here Leopardi sings his first love — its
joys and much more the sufferings it brought to
him ; the torments it made him undergo during
the day and, still more, in the silence of the
night. It is in the silence of the night also — or
perhaps more precisely, towards morning that he
is overcome by a vague presentiment of the
departure of his beloved from his parents' home
where she had been visiting. When at last she
is gone, he drags his trembling knees through the
silent room and his solitude is complete :
Orbo riraaso allor, mi ranicchiai
Palpitando nel letto e, chiusi gli occhi,
Strinsi il cor con la mano, e sospirai.
Poscia traendo i tremuli ginocchi
Sturiidaraente per la muta stanza,
Ch'altro sara, dicea, che il cor mi tocchi ?
In solitude he mourns over the loss of his love :
Solo il mio cor piaceami, e col mio core
In un perenne ragionar sepolto,
Alia guardia seder del mio dolore.
E 1'occhio a terra chino o in se raccolto,
Di riscontrarsi fuggitivo e vago
Ne in leggiadro soffria ne in turpe volto :
Che la illibata, la Candida imago
Turbare egli temea pinta nel seno,
Come all'aure si turba onde e lago.
We pass on to the poem All' Italia, in which
the two features spoken of are less marked than
in the preceding poems. Still, Italy, figured in
the shape of a woman, is solitary and forsaken :
Siede in terra negletta e sconsolata,
Nascondendo la faccia
Tra le ginocchia, e piange.
Moreover, Leopardi imagining that his dear Italy
is abandoned by her children and that no one is
willing to fight for her, calls out in his lone
despair :
L'armi, qua 1'armi : io solo
CombatterS, procombero sol io.
And, finally, the poet Simonides singing the glo-
rious fate of the three hundred Spartans, rises
before the reader, sad and lonely, the image of
Leopardi himself bewailing the fate of Italy.
The poem entitled II Passero Solitario is chro-
nologically the first one in which Leopardi gives
relatively full expression to his overwhelming
solitude. Although published for the first time
in the Naples edition of 1835, it occupies there
the foremost place among the idyls which were
composed in 1819. It is probable, however, ac-
cording to Straccali, that the poem was worked
over at a later date, perhaps between 1831 and
1835. From his frequent allusions to them we
may infer that Leopardi was very fond of birds.
The poem begins with an account of a lonely bird
perched on the top of an ancient tower in the
country, singing all day long until nightfall.
Spring is in the air and fills men's hearts with
tenderness and love. Birds, sheep and cattle
rejoice in the glory of spring, with the exception
of one lonely bird that keeps away from its com-
panions, preferring to pass its youth in song and
solitude. Beginning here the poet makes a com-
parison between the lonely bird and himself : He
also flees amusement, laughter and love ; he
cares in nowise for them and yet he does not
know why (non so come, 1. 22). He also passes
the springtime of his life away from his com-
panions, and while the young people of his native
city are celebrating a festal day, he goes forth
174
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
into the country all by himself, putting off his
pleasures to the future. Meanwhile the sun is
setting and that setting seems to indicate that
youth has vanished.
The choice of the lonely bird as the symbol of
the solitary singer is a happy one. Moreover,
the effect of solitude is heightened by the strong
contrast between that sentiment and the beauty
of spring and youth. Judging by the Passero
Solitario, the poet's leaning towards solitude was
instinctive rather than deliberate — as appears from
the following lines :
Sollazzo e riso,
Delle novella etit dolce famiglia,
E te gerrnan di giovinezza, amore,
Sospiro acerbo de' provetti giorni,
Non euro, io non so come.
And perhaps also in the last lines :
AM pentirommi, e spesso
Ma sconsolato, volgerommi indietro.
L' Infinito usually follows after II Passero Soli-
tario. In this poem we also find an allusion to
solitude and silence, for the scene is a lonely hill
(erao colle) and a hedge behind which the poet
imagines that he discerns infinity with all its
sovrumani
Silenzio, e prqfondissima quiete.
The idea of great silence occurs again a little fur-
ther on in the same poem, when a comparison is
made between the wind rushing in the trees and
the infinite silence just spoken of :
E come il vento
Odo stormir tra queste piante, io quello
Infinito silenzio e questa voce
Vo comparando.
The poem was written, like the Passero Solitario,
in 1819, and it may be of interest to recall the
fact that the deserted hill of which the poet speaks
actually existed at the time of Leopardi and that
he often visited it. At present the site of the hill
is considerably changed, according to a note in
Straccali's edition.
Still another poem in which the sentiment of
solitude as well as silence appears clearly is the
poem entitled Alia Luna. Scientific minds may
find it difficult to imagine the state of soul of one
who addresses himself repeatedly and passionately
to that luminary. And yet, a mind no less scien-
tific than that of Goethe, did not disdain to make
appeal to the moon in accents of deepest despair :
Oh siihst du, voller Mondenschein,
Zuin letzten Mai auf meine Pein.
And, among many other instances, who does not
recall that famous stanza in the Rubaiyat f
Yon rising Moon that looks for us again —
How oft hereafter will she wax and wane ;
How oft hereafter rising look for us
Through this same Garden — and for one in vain !
The moon has always exercised and still exercises
a strange and powerful fascination over the human
mind — and especially over the minds of poets.
The poetic suggestion of the moon seems to result
from the mysteriousuess which surrounds that
luminary and the ominous silence and the deep
repose which man is wont to associate with it.
There is, moreover, a feeling of loneliness, which
communicates itself to us as we contemplate the
moon. I believe it is Emerson who says that
if one wishes to be alone one should look at the
moon. The romantic poets and those who sing of
the weariness of life and its sadness — the pessi-
mistic poets— all have addressed their passionate
appeals to the moon ; they have, it seems, discov-
ered between themselves and her a secret affinity
and sympathy. Such was evidently the case with
Leopardi, in whose poems we find numerous in-
stances of the mysterious communion and intimacy
spoken of.
The poem entitled II Sogno, shows how our
poet has a dream towards morning, in which his
beloved appears to him. After a brief conver-
sation with her, he discovers that she is dead —
that he has been conversing with her shadow only.
In this instance silence and solitude are not in
great prominence. The final picture, however, is
that of the lonely poet, awaking in the midst of
silence from his harrowing dream :
Or finalmente addio.
Nostre misere menti e nostre salme
Son disgiunte in eterno. A me non vivi,
E mai piu non vivrai : giil ruppe il fato
La fe che mi giurasti. Allor d'angoscia
Grider volendo, e spasimando, e pregue
Di sconsolato pianto le pupille,
Dal sonno mi disciolsi. Ella negli occhi
Pur mi restava, e nell' incerto raggio
Del Sol vederla io mi credeva ancora.
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
175
Whether or not Leopard! passed the summer of
1819 in the country cannot be definitely ascer-
tained. But whatever the truth may be regard-
ing this matter, the poem entitled La Vita Soli-
taria shows the poet living in the country, and the
title indicates sufficiently what life he led there.
In the morning he is wakened by the gentle patter
of the rain against his windows : Nature still
offers to him some slight consolation, although
she prefers to look upon happiness rather than
misfortune. Surrounded by nature, the poet
sometimes betakes himself to a solitary spot,
where he may forget the world :
Talor m'assido in solitaria parte,
Sovra un rialto, al margine d'un lago
Di taciturne piante incoronato.
Ivi, quando il meriggio in ciel si volve,
La sua tranquilla imago il Sol dipinge,
Ed erba o foglia non si crolla al vento,
E non onda incresparsi, e non cicala
Strider, n£ batter penna augello in ramo,
N£ farfalla ronzar, n<§ voce o moto
Da presso n6 da lunge odi n£ vedi.
Tien quelle rive altissinm quiete ;
Ond' io quasi me stesso e il mondo obblio
Sedendo immoto ; e gia mi parche sciolte
Giaccian le membre mie, n4 spirto o senso
Piil le commova, e lor quiete antica
Co' silenzi del loco si confonda.
The silence and the solitude of the place recall to
the poet the reason for his fondness for it, namely,
the loss of the sentiment once sweetest to him,
love. Sometimes this sentiment comes back to
him, especially at night when he hears the sil-
very notes of a village maiden. The idea of
night leads up to an address to the moon, to
whom the poet directs these final words :
Me spesso rivedrai solingo e muto
Errar pe' bosclii o per le verdi rive,
O seder so vra F erbe, assai contento
Se core e lena a sospirar m'avanza.
Among the remaining poems I shall cite first
La sera del dl di festa. On the evening of a fes-
tive day — when " the lanes are silent and the
lamps are few"— the poet thinks of his beloved
whom he imagines as sleeping and dreaming of
her triumphs of the day. He has no hope that
her thoughts are turned to him : she, like all
nature, has forgottcu him. Suddenly he hears a
belated artisan singing, and this solitary song re-
minds him of the passing of all things — the fame
of his forefathers and the fame of Rome are all
now hushed in silence. I quote a few lines in
order to show how silence and solitude form an
essential part of this poem :
Dolce e chiara e la notte e senza vento,
E queta sovra i tetti e in mezzo agli orti
Posa la Inna, e di Ionian rivela
Serena ogni naontagna. O donna mia,
Gi4 tace ogni sentiero, e pei balconi
Kara traluce la notturna lampa :
Tu dormi, che t'accolse agevol sonno
Nelle tue chcte stanze ; e non ti morde
Cura nessuna ; e gia non sai n4 pensi
Quanta piaga m'apristi in mezzo al petto.
.... Ahi, per la via
Odo non lunge il solitario canto
Dell' artigian ....
Ecco 6 fuggito
II df festive, ed al festivo il giorno
Volgar succede, e se ne porta il tempo
Ogni umano accidente. Or dov' e il suono
Di que' popoli antichi ? or dov' e il grido
De' nostri avi famosi, e il grande impero
Di quelle Roma, e 1'armi e il fragorio
Che n'ando per la terra e 1'oceano ?
Tutto e pace e silenzio, e tutto posa
11 mondo, e piti di lor non si ragiona.
There is another poem from the title of which,
Canto Notturne di un pastore errante dell' Asia,
we may infer that silence and solitude reign about
the shepherd who represents Leopardi himself.
Here are the opening lines :
Che fai tu, luna, in ciel? dimmi, che fai,
Silenziosa luna ?
Sorgi la sera, e vai,
Contemplando i deserti ; indi ti posi.
And further on, still addressing the moon :
Pur tn, solinga, eterna peregrina,
Che si pensosa sei, tu forse intend!,
Questo viver terreno,
II partir nostro, il sospirar, che sia ;
E tu certo comprendi
II perche delle cose, e vedi il frutto
Del mattin, della sera,
Del tacito, infinito andar del tempo.
Spesso quand' io ti miro
Star cost muta in sul deserto piano,
Che, in suo giro lontano, al ciel confina . . .
176
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
Dico f ra me pensando :
A che tante facelle?
Che fa 1'aria infinita, e quel profondo
Infinite seren ? che vuol dir questa
Solitudine iramensa ?
MOKITZ LEVI.
University of Michigan.
VENETIAN BUSINELLO= ITALIAN
EMISSARIO.
In the Cicogua collection at Venice cod. 3637
(Correr 3350) is a series of papers dated Sept.
28, 1836, and signed by the celebrated architect
G. Casoni. Under the general title ' ' Notizia
storica dell' Emissario al Fiume Sile denominato
il Businello ' ' are collected recopies of this essay
and the various notes used by Casoni in the con-
struction of it. It seems that in the diversion of
the Sile's course, incident upon the exclusion of
fresh water from the Venetian lagoon, the pesti-
ferous effects produced by the mixture of the river
in the stagnant pools of salt water were not en-
tirely overcome, but simply transferred to the
eastward to the territory surrounding the river's
new mouth. It was accordingly suggested, as the
result of agitation culminating in 1695, that the
burden be divided, by distributing the flow of the
river through the new and the old beds, by means
of a gate- way opened at their junction. The
adoption of this proposal led to a discussion on
the reform which lasted with decision for and
against the fiume, for some 150 years. This
gate-way appears in the documents on the subject
under the name Businello ; and the varying treat-
ment of this term by the successive authorities
invites inquiry as to what it really means. Casoni
refers to it seven times simply as il Businello,
e. g. loc. cit. no. 4, doc. 4, 1° : " 1695, 5 decem-
bre decreto 1'apertura del Businello ossia di una
catterata, dalla quale una parte sola dell' acqua
del Sile si ottenesse. ' ' Here also the name is in-
terpreted carefully by the succeeding phrase ; and
while we have the undecisive "di esso Businello"
(ibid. doc. 5, 2b, 4°), "di riattirare quel Busi-
nello" (ibid.) and "Questo Businello produsse,
etc." (ibid. 3b, doc. 7), as a rule there is a dis-
tinct apology for the word (ibid. doc. 6, 1") :
"1'apertura di un emissario che venne denomi-
nato Businello, val a dire 1'apertura alia sponda
destra di una catterata larga piedi 9, alta piedi
3." So far indeed is Casoni from feeling it a
common noun that on five occasions he uses it as
a proper name in apposition (ibid. 4, 4, 1") :
" Questo nuovo Emissario Businello soggiaque a
grandissime vicende " ; (ibid. doc. 6, 1, title)
" Promeuoria dell' Emissario del Sile Businello";
(doc. 4, lb) " F acqua proveniente dall' Emissario
Businello"; (doc. 5, 3b) "Auche senzala riaper-
tura dell' Emissario Businello"; (ibid. 4") " gli
effetti prodotti dall' emissario Businello."
Antonio Tadini writing in 1819 likewise recog-
nizes the exotic character of the word : in his title
"Dell" Emissario del Sile volgarmente detto il
Businello " (Milano, Paolo Giusti, 1819, 59 pp. ) ;
(p. 4, 1. 15) "in via di sperimenti si apri uno
sfogatoio chiamato il Businello "; (p.57) "1'Emis-
sario o Businello del Sile " ; while elsewhere (pp.
5, 6, 7, 8, 33, 34, 41, 44) he uses simply : "il
Businello " or " il B. del Sile." The Alvisopoli
in the same year in Venice published an ' ' Esame
delle opinion! di Benedetto Castelli e di Alfonso
Borelli sulle lagune di Venezia, aggiuntavi (pp.
99-142) un appendice sulla riapertura del Busi-
nello"; and among some 27 occurrences of the
term we find "del uuovo Busiuello " (p. 104),
"del Busiuello secondo " (p. 105, note), and the
adverbial expression "a Businello aperto " (p.
116), which are in the direction of considering
Businello a common noun. Filiasi again (Riflcs-
sioni sopra i fiumi e le lagune, Giuseppe Pignotti,
Venezia, 1817) is in doubt (p. 45, 1. 7) : "uno
sbocco si aprisse ad esso nella laguua, detto il
Businello," with one possible occurrence of the
common noun form (p. 64, 1. 1): " Chiuso nel
1769 il Busiuello del Sile." The fact that in all
of these works the word is capitalized is, of course,
unimportant ; not only because there was as yet
little regularity in capitalization generally, but
because such words as fiume, taglio, mare, emis-
sario, pure common nouns, are nevertheless fa-
vored with large initials in these same books.
In any case, reference to the original documents
in the discussion would have determined for them
the precise status of the term. The papers of the
agitation previous to the construction of the dam,
as well, apparently, as some of the deliberations of
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
177
the Venetian senate, are no longer extant. For
letters of the Water Commissioners to the Doge
dated July 6, 1695 (Archiy. di Stato, Venezia,
Atti del Senate Terra, Senate I, Filza 1196), and
of Girolamo Vesti Fiorentino dated July 14 (ibid.),
refer to an unavailable previous decision adverse
to the construction of this work. The letter of
the Savii ' ' propose la construttione di un Bwi-
nello nell'Arzere vicino alle porte del Lioncello
. . . e percio facendo un tal Businello saral'opera-
tione pernmnente e sicura ' ' and they request his
Serenity ' ' degnarsi di fare una permuta del de-
creto gia concesso, e ordinare che sii fatto il Busi-
uello sudetto . . . tan to essendo 1'eterare [sic] dal
predetto Sile 27 piedi d'acqua per li portelli, come
da un Businello." Vesti' s communication is to
the same purport, begging the Senate ' ' di com-
mutarli il primo decreto con il permetter a gli
interessati di far a loro spese un businello nel
1'Arzere vicino alle porte del Lioncello." The
Senate on Aug. 3 (ibid, last doc.) voted that
' ' resti permesso agli iuteressati di far a loro
spese un Businello nell' Intestadura in Bocca dis
Valle alle Porte del Sile." This is executed on
Aug. 9 by the Savii who "commettemo al Fede
Anzolo Garnizzan Proto di poter far . . . un busi-
nello nelP Arzere, etc.," later also using the
phrase "per detto Businello." On Sept. 26, a
letter of the Savii again refers to the " faccitura
del Businello alle Nuove Porte del Sile," and there
occur later the phrases a detto B., di detto B. In
their letter of Oct. 1 : "la perfetione delle me-
deme operationi . . . e Busiuello sia permisso,
etc." Oct. 23 there was "stabilita dalla pub.
aucta 1'erettione d'un Busiuello in Bocca di
Valle, in vicinanza delle Porte del Sile. . . .
L'andera pte. che trovandosi opportuna la cos-
trutne del nuovo Businello." The Savii again
Dec. 16 : "che fosse permesso agli interessati di
far a loro spese un businello nell Arzere vicino
alle porte del Lioncello ; . . . venendo suggerito
stimasse piu proprio far questo businello nell' In-
testatura in bocca di valle " ; Nov. 8 : "La rotta
fatta dal Businello al medesimo . . . dichiaran-
dosi in appresso di rimettere lo stesso Businello
con pietre nuove." Nov. 29 : "del passato
Businello ; . . . come per altra suma di denaro
da impiegarsi nella nuova costruzione d'altro
businello piu forte." Other documents, Oct. 8,
24, 29, contain examples of the words used simply
with the definite article.
It is consistent, of course, that those histories
based on the original papers should show a simi-
larly decisive use of this name. In ' ' Kelazioni
intorno ai danni del Businello chiuso introdotte
nella Scritt". del N. U. Foscariui Presentato li 27
marzo!773" (Archiv. di Stato, Atti della Magis.
delle acque, 975, part ir, doc. xv, 7*) appears
"fu del 1695, 3 ag!° in gratia dell' arrecordo de-
cretato che a titolo d'esperienza far si dovesse un
Businello nell' Intestatura in bocca di Valle . . .
resto permesso all'acqua passare per il nuovo
Businello"; (ibid. 7b) "fu permesso fare un
altro Businello"; (ibid. 14") "la chiusura di
Fossi, Fossetta, e Businello"; (ibid. 28') "a
Businello chiuso" and "a Businello apcrto"
(twice); (ibid. 35") " un Businello fu aperto "
and the difficult phrase ' ' a Businello uguale. ' '
Only once in this collection among some three
score occurrences of the word, and that, too, in a
document dated 1772, is there any indication of
hesitation about its legitimacy: "di essa divi-
sione denominata Businello." This doubt, how-
ever, arose relatively early. In a letter of Zuane
Filopisi, 25 Zugno 1725 (Sen. Terra 1726, Seu.
i, f? 1651 sub 18 Marzo) lb : "fu suggerita la
costruzione d'uno sbalzo detto Businello mediante
il quale ..." So the great historian of the lagoons,
Bernardino Zendrini (Memorie storiche detto stato
antico e moderno delle lagune di Venezia, Padova,
1736, also 1821, Stamp, del Seminario*), n, p.
467 : "formando uno stramazzo o businello nella
intestadura " ; p. 231, "consisteva questa nel
formare uno stramazzo, che chiamossi poi Busi-
nello," where the chronology is somewhat re-
versed, and the capitalization inconsistent.
But the earliest documents are conclusive :
their use of businello, uncapitalized, in conjunc-
tion with the indefinite article, such adjectives as
altro, nuovo, secondo, and in adverbial phrases a
businello aperto, chiuso, uguale establishes its ex-
istance as a common noun, used here in a general
and not a specific sense. It is by the later archi-
tects, not perfectly familiar with the popular
origin of the businello scheme, that the word is
misunderstood and limited as a proper name to
this particular cutting. They may have felt, for
instance, that it had something to do with the
178
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
well-known Businello family : in fact, Pietro Bu-
sinello was Cancelliere Grande in 1698 and must
have been interested in the passionate debate the
work aroused. But most of them, as Antonio
Tadini, must have felt its dialectical nature,
"called by the people businello" he says; it is
not in fact till Casoni, in the middle of the nine-
teenth century, that the term is completely con-
fused. And it remains to explain how the name
happened to be applied to this gate- way, northeast
of Torcello and not to others of similar nature, for
instance, at Forcarigole, on the Lerin near Vi-
cenza, and on the Livenza (Zendrini, op. cit., n,
119, 139, 166). But the answer is easily found.
Those works were part of engineering plans, con-
ceived by educated architects, and draughted in
the Italian language. While the Businello del
Sile was the result of a popular agitation emanat-
ing from the peasants affected by the river's dis-
tortion. Having decided on their remedy, they
naturally presented it to the Senate in their own
way : not familiar with the technical term they
sought, they created the word which best ex-
pressed the idea : and the double diminutive,
aside from being characteristic generally of the
Venetian folk-speech, may also have seemed
to add humility to their request — a businello could
do much less damage to the lagoons than a mere
buso. Also the word was familiar to them as the
cutting, or gateway through a hedge (Boerio).
The rarity of the word in other places is due
merely to the non-existence of engineers who
write in Venetian. Intrinsically businello bears
every stamp of authenticity as a common noun of
the Venetian dialect, and should be added to the
next edition of Boerio' s work.
A. A. LIVINGSTON.
Smith College.
CONTEMPORARY GERMAN FICTION
AND NARRATIVE POETRY.
The following list of important works of con-
temporary German fiction and narrative poetry is
presented in the hope that it may be of service to
teachers of German who have had no opportunity
to do a considerable amount of reading in the field
in question. I thoroughly appreciate the difficul-
ties and dangers that beset the compiler of such a
list who is not so fortunate as to be located right
in the midst of things, as well as the usual thank-
lessness of a selection of the ' ' one hundred best
books" and similar ventures, and yet the disad-
vantage in the way of insufficient library facilities
under which many of our teachers labor encourage
me to submit in the list below the results of my
experience in connection with a course on con-
temporary German fiction and narrative poetry.
Criticism is, after all, a matter of personal opinion,
and I do not for one moment expect that this list
will be universally accepted as it stands ; my pur-
pose in publishing it will be accomplished if it
succeeds in eliciting a discussion of comparative
values in recent fiction, for it seems to me that
the field of contemporary literature is sadly neg-
lected in our modern language periodicals as well
as in our graduate instruction. It need scarcely
be emphasized that the list includes a number of
works that I mention not because of their inherent
literary merits but rather because of their literary-
historical interest, as characteristic of a specific
movement or tendency, for example, and, simi-
larly, various works are quoted in connection with
certain authors because they mark definite phases
of their literary career, and not necessarily because
I regard them as their best productions. The field
covered is approximately that from the restoration
of the German Empire in 1871 to the present day.
I. NOVELS. — Anzengruber, Der Sternsteinhof;
Helene Bohlau, Der Rangierbahnhof ; (Georg
Hermann) Borchardt, Jettehen Geberts Gesehichte ;
Dahn, Ein Kampf um Rom ; Ebers, Homo Sum ;
Ernst, Arm/us Sempers Jugendland ; Fischer, Die
Freude am Licht ; Fontane, Vor demSturm, Frau
Jenny Treibel, Effie Briest ; Franzos, Ein Kampf
urns Recht ; Frenssen, Die drei Getreuen, Jiirn Uhl,
Peter Moors Fahrt nac.h Sudivest • Handel-Man-
zetti, Jesse und Maria ; Carl Hauptmann, Ma-
thilde, Einhart der Ladder ; Heer, Der Kon'nj
der Bernina ; Herzog, Die Wiskottens; Hesse,
Peter Camenzind ; Hoffmann, Der eiserne RM-
meister • Ricarda Huch, Ludolf Ursleu ; Jensen,
Eddystone, Die Pfeifer vom Dmenbacli ; Kretzer,
Meister Timpe ; Kriiger. Gottfried Kampfer ;
Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks ; Ompteda, Eyscn ;
von Polenz, Der Buttnerbauer, Der Grabenhdger,
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
179
Der Wurzellocker ; Rosegger, Die Schriften des
Waldschulmeisters, Der Gottsucher, Jakob der
Letzte ; Sperl, Die Sb'hne des Herrn Budiwoi ;
Strausz, Freund Hein ; Sudermann, Frau Sorge,
Der Katsensteg, Es War ; Clara Viebig, Das Wei-
berdorf, Das tdgliche Brot, Das schlafende Heer ;
Wassermann, Die Geschichte der jungen Renate
Fuchs ; Wilbrandt, Hermann Ifinger, Die Oster-
insel ; von Wolzogen, Der Krafi-Mayr ; Zahn,
Die Clari-Marie.
II. NOVELETTES AND SHORT STOEIES. —
Dreyer, Lautes und Leises ; Ebner-Eschenbach,
Das Gemeindekind, Bozena ; Carl Hauptmann,
Miniaturen ; Heyse, (Ausgewahlte) Novellen ;
Hoffmann, Das Gymnasium zu Stolpenburg ;
Holz und Schlaf, Die papierne Passion, Papa
Hamlet ; Isolde Kurz, Florentiner Novellen;
Meyer, Jurg Jenatsch, Der Heilige, Die Rieh-
terin, etc. ; von Saar, Novellen aus Oesterreich ;
Seidel, Leberecht Huhnohen ; Sohle, Musikan-
tengeschichten ; Adolf Stern, (Ausgewahlte') No-
vellen ; Clara Viebig, Kinder der Eifel ; Wilden-
brueh, Erzdhlungen.
III. NARRATIVE POEMS. — Baumbach, Frau
Holde ; Hertz, Bruder Rausch ; Spitteler, Olym-
pischer Fruhling ; Weber, Dreizehnlinden ; Wolff,
Der wilde Jager.
RUDOLF TOMBO, JR.
Columbia University.
ENGLISH PLAYS.
AN UNNOTED PARODY OF Hamlet.
In Eastward Hoe, written shortly after the
accession of James I, the authors, Jonson, Chap-
man, and Marston, parody several well known
plays. Prof. Schelling, in his admirable edition
( The Belles-Lettres Series') , points out the follow-
ing : P. 10, 1. 134, 2 Henry IV; p. 11, 1. 156,
The Spanish Tragedy ; p. 26, 1. 106, Tambur-
laine ; p. 27, 1. 134, The Turkish Mahomet and
Hyren the Fair Greek, 2 Henry IV; p. 27, 1.
138, The Spanish Tragedy ; p. 28, 11. 164-72,
The Spanish Tragedy ; p. 33, 1. 41, Mulleasses
the Turke ; p. 80, 1. 6, Richard III.
Naturally a play so striking and so popular as
Hamlet ' would uot escape. Page 54, 1. 4 :
Enter Hamlet, afooteman, in haste.
Page 54, 1. 6 :
Potkin. Sfoote, Hamlet, are you madde ?
Page 57, 11. 74-75 :
Your father, and some' one more, stole to
church with 'hem in all the haste, that the cold
meat left at your wedding might serve to furnish
their nuptiall table.
Page 58, 11. 96-100 : The song is a variation
of Ophelia's song, Hamlet, iv, 5, 190.
But, so far as I have been able to discover, no
one has pointed out an interesting parody of Ophe-
lia's death as narrated by the Queen. Hamlet,
iv, 7, 174-8 :
An envious sliver broke ;
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread
wide ;
And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up :
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes.
This picture seems clearly in the mind of the
writer in Eastward Hoe, iv, 1 (p. 84). Slitgut
climbs a tree at Cuckold's Haven, and views the
storm on the river Thames. Suddenly he sees in
the water a woman borne along by the flood :
Ay me, see another remnant of this unfor-
tunate ship-wrack ! or some other. A woman,
yfaith, a woman ; though it be almost at S [aint]
Kath'rins, I discerne it to be a woman, for al her
bodie is above the water, and her clothes swim
about her most handsomely. O, they beare her
up most bravely ! Has not a woman reason to
love the taking up of her cloathes the better while
she lives, for this? Alas, how busie the rude
Thames is about her ! A pox a' that wave ! it
wil drowne her, yfaith, twill drowne her ! Crye
God mercie, shee has scapt it ! I thanke heaven
she has scapt it ! 0 how shee swimmes like a
mermaide !
JOSEPH QUINCY ADAMS, JR.
Cornell University.
1 Written three, perhaps four, years earlier.
180
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
CONCERNING FULKE GREVILLE'S
(LORD BROOKE'S) TRAGEDIES,
ALAHAM AND MUSTAPHA.
THE DATES OF THE Two PLAYS.
Tho the scenes of Greville's two tragedies,
Alaham and Mustapha, lie in the far off Orient,
their relationship to current happenings in the
political circles of England itself was very close ;
and if they are considered in the light of this
relationship, the dates of their composition can
be determined with a fair degree of accuracy.
It will be recalled that the last years of Eliza-
beth were filled with sadness and gloom. All her
old counsellors and favorites : Leicester, Walsing-
ham, and Burleigh had died before the new cen-
tury opened. Their successors, not having become
attached to the brilliant queen in her early years,
hoped only for her death, and were busily in-
triguing for favor in the coming reign. Even the
people, whose favor she had always courted, were
cold and indifferent toward the aged queen. In
Alaham we have just such a picture : a kingdom,
whose sovereign is enfeebled with age, rent with
dissensions over the question of the successor to
the throne. Of course, the parallel cannot be
carried out in all its details, but there is no doubt
about the similarity of the situations, or that Gre-
ville's object was to bring out this similarity.
The same motive that probably led him to delo-
calize his drama so completely — namely, the
necessity under pain of censure, of disguising
reference to the Court in literary works — would
lead him to refrain from drawing too close a par-
allel to situations surrounding Elizabeth in her
declining years.
It is safe to say, then, that Alaham could not
have been written before 1598, the date of Bur-
leigh's death. Prior to that date, the strength of
Elizabeth's reign had scarcely begun to wane,
and the question of her successor had not yet
seriously engaged the attention of her ministers ;
but from then on, this question became more and
more important, until during the queen's last
days, men expected a violent struggle for the
crown. It was rare good fortune that all the
great parties : Catholics, Puritans, and those of
more secular temper, saw their hopes realized in
James. The late limit for Alaham is, of course,
the date of Elizabeth's death, 1603.
Dr. M. W. Croll, ' on evidence of verse struc-
ture, places Alaham between 1586 and 1600. By
taking this late limit and the early limit above
mentioned, we can place the writing of Alaham
between the closely approximating dates of 1598
and 1600. But if we are to follow the evidence
of the relation of the drama to English politics at
all, 1603 is to be preferred as the late limit
because the circumstances which, as we have
seeu, probably occasioned the writing of the
drama, became more and more significant as the
end of Elizabeth's reign drew near.
In the case of Mustapha, the relationship to
English conditions is not to be found so much in
similarity of situations as in the application of
doctrines of statecraft which the author puts in
the mouths of his characters to the English
political situation. Even a hasty perusal of
Mustapha shows that in it Greville is voicing his
discontent with " those new revolutions of time,"
as he calls them, in the early years of James'
reign. It is a polemic against the Stuart doc-
trine of the divine right of kings. The one doc-
trine that stands blazoned on every page of the
drama is that kingly power is derived from the
people.
Mustapha, therefore, was not written before
1603 when James came to the throne and " those
new revolutions of time ' ' which are assailed in
the drama began. Its late limit is 1609, deter-
mined absolutely by the publication in that year
of a quarto edition of the play.
THE SOURCE OF Mustapha.
The following books have been mentioned as
possible sources of Mustaplia :
By Langbaine2 :
1 Morris W. Croll, The Works of Fulke GrevUle, Univ. of
Penna. Ph. D. thesis. Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1903,
p. 39.
2 Gerard Langbaine, English Dramatick Poets, Oxford,
1691, p. 39 refers to p. 28.
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
181
Paolo Giovio (Paulas Jovius, Historice sui tern-
poris, book 40. Florence, 1550-52 ; Paris, 1558-
60 ; Venice, 1565 (Italian), Venice, 1581 (Ita-
lian). The account of the murder of Mustapha,
which occurred in 1553, of course appears only in
the later editions in which the narrative was
brought down to date by other writers.
De Thou (Thuanus), Historic sui temporis,
book 12. Paris, 1604.
Thomas Artus, La Continuation de I' Histoire
des Turcs. Paris, 1620. This is an addition to
the work of Laoiiicus Chalcocondylas.
Richard Knolles, General History of the Turks.
London, 1603.
By Ward 3 :
Madeline de Scud6ry, Ibrahim ou V Illustre
Bassa. Paris, 1641. Ward does not refer to
Langbaine's list.
By Dr. Croll * :
A supplement added to H. Goughe's (or
Goffe's) translation of Bartholomseus Georgie-
vitz' De Turcarum Moribus, London, 1570.
To these may be added :
Augier-Ghrislain de Busbecq, Leyationis Tur-
cicce Epistolce 4, the second letter. Anvers, 1582 ;
Paris, 1589.
Of these, Thomas Artus and Madeline de
Scudery must be thrown out because of their
having been published later than Greville's play.
Any one of the others might have been known
and used by Greville. Hence it is wholly impos-
sible to determine absolutely the source of his
tragedy ; but it is quite possible to choose from
the above list the one book among them all that
in all probability was the one Greville went to.
This is neither De Thou nor the supplement to
Goughe's translation of Georgievitz, the two which
Dr. Croll, whose dissertation contains the last
word on the subject, seems to consider most likely.
8A. W. Ward, English Dramatic Literature, London,
1899, Vol. n, p. 616, footnote.
«M. W. Croll, as above, p. 37.
It is Knolles' Turkish History which, since Lang-
baine's time, has for some inexplicable reason been
consistently overlooked in the search for the source
of Mustapha.1 Knolles was published in 1603, the
date of Elizabeth's death, and, for reasons stated
above, the early limit for the writing of Mustapha.
Is it not natural to suppose, then, that Greville
found the details of his story in this new and
popular history written by one of his countrymen,
rather than in an older and less widely known
English account such as Goughe's supplement to
Georgievitz, or in a foreign history written in
Latin like De Thou, or any one of the others in
the list ? Knolles must have been looked upon
as the most reliable because the most recent and
complete authority on the history of the Ottoman
Empire — a consideration likely to appeal to a man
of Greville' s learning.
E. M. CUSHMAN.
Philadelphia.
GOTHIC BIBLE.
Die Gotische Bibel, herausgegeben von WILHELM
STEEITBERG. Erster Teil : Der Gotische Text
und seine Griechische Vorlaye. Mit Einlei-
tung, Lesarten u. Quellennachweisen sowie den
Kleineren Denkraiilern als Anhang. (Ger-
manistische Bibliothek, hrsg. v. W. Streitberg.
Zweite Abteilung : Untersuchungen u. Texte.
in, 1.) Heidelberg: C. Winter, 1908. 8vo.,
xlvi + 484pp. M. 4,70.
This new handy edition of the remnants of the
Gothic Bible — together with the original Greek
'After reading the proof of this article, Professor Schel-
ling calls attention to his statement of the matter in
Elizabethan Drama 1558-1664, u, 11 : " But it seems not
unlikely that here, as in the case of Chapman witli Grime-
stone, Greville sought a source more easily accessible in
Knolls' Oeneral History of the Turks, first published in
1603." A footnote gives the page-references to the edi-
tion of 1638 of Knolles, pointing to the probable passages.
— J. W. B.
182
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
text and the minor literary sources of the Gothic
language — is entitled to a word of cordial wel-
come. To call attention at once to what is per-
haps its most significant feature : it includes a
new revision of the Ambrosian MSS. , contributed
by the Milano librarian, director Wilhelm Braun,
to whom in recognition of his cooperation the new
edition is dedicated. Braun' s numerous critical
remarks and new readings are the result of care-
ful and patient work — carried on thru a good
many years — for which we have all the more
reason to be grateful since heretofore the impres-
sion prevailed that Uppstrom's critical edition of
the Codices Ambrosiani meant — -like his Codex
Argenteus — the final revision of the Gothic
manuscripts.
Following Bernhardt's example, Streitberg has
endeavored to restore the Greek original from
which Ulfila made his translation, and like Bern-
hardt he has provided this reconstructed Greek
text with critical notes, illustrating the relation of
the text as used by Ulfila to that of other early
MSS. (or rather groups of MSS.) of the Greek
Bible. Even a casual comparison of the present
edition with Bernhardt's Greek text and variants
will give evidence of the progress which since the
publication (in 1875) of Beruhardt's Vulfila has
been made in this field, both as regards the Sep-
tuagint and the Greek New Testament. In fact,
the researches of critics like Lagarde, von Soden,
Frdr. KaufFraann, which have thrown so much
additional light on the history of the Greek text
in Ulfila' s time,, fall within the last three decades.
I must refrain from pointing out in detail how in
this line of research the interests of biblical text
criticism went hand in hand — to mutual advan-
tage— with those of the student of Gothic. But
it ought to be stated at least that in the present
edition Streitberg has materially added towards
settling the textual questions by undertaking to
derive systematically the differences that remain
between the Greek and the Gothic text from two
sources, viz.: 1) the influence of non-Greek bibli-
cal texts (especially that of the so-called Itala),
and 2) the influence of parallel passages.
At the first glance it may seem strange that,
while attempting to reconstruct the Greek original
of the Gothic version, Streitberg has refrained
from doing the same with Ulfila' s own work.
Instead of restoring the genuine text of Ulfila' s
translation he is satisfied with a revised reprint of
the various Gothic MSS., i. e., a reprint in which
obvious mistakes (like omissions or repetitions of
words or syllables) are corrected, but other vari-
ants, arbitrary spellings, more recent grammatical
forms, etc., have been carefully preserved. In
this respect Streitberg' s attitude to ward the Gothic
text differs essentially from that of Bernhardt,
who did not hesitate to normalize the Gothic text
in certain respects, correcting, e. g., in the first
ten chapters of St. Luke the confusion between
the vowels ei and e, so characteristic of that pas-
sage. It can hardly be maintained that the task
of restoring Ulfila' s version is altogether hopeless.
It is safe at least to say that the genuine Ulfila
can be more easily restored from our Gothic MSS.
than the genuine Luther could from the current
printed texts of his version. And yet, there is
good reason for Streitberg' s attitude. The few
manuscripts in which fragments of the Gothic
Bible are preserved, are nearly all that is left of
the Gothic language, and hence are of value to us
not only when preserving Ulfila's work in its
original garb but also when introducing more
recent features that bear testimony of the subse-
quent development of the Gothic language.
While agreeing then with the editor as to the
main issue, we would regard as a matter of prac-
ticability rather than of principle, the further
question as to whether in cases like that of Ambr.
A and Ambr. B the two MSS. should be printed
(as is the case in Streitberg' s edition) in parallel
columns or whether it might have been sufficient
to print only one of them in full and to record the
variants of the other in the footnotes. We believe,
however, that there can hardly be any difference
of opinion as to the advisability of another one of
Streitberg' s innovations, i. e., to print in the case
of the cod. Carolinus in addition to the Gothic
also the parallel Latin version.
The Greek and the Gothic texts are printed in
this edition on opposite pages and accompanied by
critical footnotes. We heartily concur in Jac.
Grimm's and the editor's claim that the two texts
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
183
should go together because the Greek original is
the most useful and necessary help for the under-
standing of the Gothic version.
The editor has had the happy idea of reprinting
in the first chapter of his introduction the original
sources (some of which are found in works not
easily obtainable) for our knowledge of Ulfila's
life. A second chapter is given to a review of
the Gothic manuscripts, while in a third one
various problems of biblical text criticism are
discussed that have a bearing on the Greek
original of Ulfila's translation or on the Latin
versions by which the Gothic text was influ-
enced.
The moderate price (one dollar and fifteen
cents) of the new edition will place it within the
reach of every student of Gothic and will, no
doubt, contribute towards making it one of the
most popular editions of the Gothic Bible.
HERMANN COLLITZ.
Johns Hopkins University.
G. PELLISSIER : Le XVII siecle par les textes.
Morceaux choisis. Paris : Delagrave, 1908.
564 pages.
It will be of great interest to those of us who
use in their classes Pellissier's Precis de la littera-
ture franfciiae to hear that the same author has
issued a book of texts which follows closely in its
arrangement the chapters of his " Manuel," and
that he intends to publish similar books on the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
This collection — which for the thoroughness and
the excellence of the work reminds us somewhat of
the Chrestomathie de Vinet — is extremely well
made. It is not my intention to discuss it here
in detail, but one thing at least deserves special
mention : So far, authors of such selections have
made it a point to pick out the passages from
classics which were perfect from the point of view
of art, but cared little whether these passages
were also particularly characteristic of the author's
thought. Often, nay, most of the time they were
not. The ideal would be, of course, that the right
passage for the understanding of the philosophy
of an author should be at the same time the best
from the point of view of style ; but the ideal as
we know is rarely- realized in this world, and, as
a matter of fact, it happens constantly that the
art of an author was excellent when he expressed
an idea of secondary importance, and vice versa.
Pellissier took this fact into account and chose the
characteristic rather than the beautiful — whenever
a choice was to be made. This is, no doubt, the
wiser course.
The book is rather large — 564 pages of close
print — too large perhaps for a text-book, some
may be inclined to think. Of course, every pro-
fessor may select from the selections ; but there are
some reasons to believe that it would be preferable
if the shorter selection too was made by a man
like Pellissier, rather than by an ordinary teacher
who usually needs guidance — sometimes needs it
very badly. I should like to suggest — if I may
— for another edition, or for the books on the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, that Pellis-
sier himself mark in some way or other the first
choice passages (by an asterisk, for instance).
There are notes, short and good, of vocabulary
and of explanation of allusions. There are fur-
ther a number of excellent pictures of the
time.
Some chapters will prove particularly useful,
«. g., L' Hotel de Rambouillet, or I' Academic
francaise.
Voltaire philosophe, by GEORGES PELLISSIER.
Paris : Armand Colin, 1908. iii -f 304 pp.
The title of this book is sufficient indication
that a detailed discussion of it belongs rather to a
philosophical journal. Such a discussion has been
contributed by the writer to the Journal of Phil-
osophy (March 18, 1909).
One question, however, may well be examined
here while calling the attention of the literary
public to this extremely conscientious and valu-
able work. Not long ago, it will be remembered,
Lanson gave out a Voltaire in the Collection des
grand ecrivains frany ais ; Lanson emphasized the
184
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
literary and historical aspect in Voltaire. Now
Pellissier's volume by no means makes "double
emploi " with Lanson's, but it may be interesting
to ask which one of the two— if we may so speak
— is the right thing to do : to approach Voltaire
as a man of letters or as a philosopher? In order
to bring out the most valuable part of Voltaire's
genius, ought he to be studied rather from the
historical standpoint, adopted by Lanson, or from
the abstract, philosophical standpoint, adopted by
Pellissier ?
The answer we should like to suggest is about
this : Voltaire is the apostle of common sense ;
but for this very reason (as Pellissier himself
admits already in his " Avant-Propos " ) he neg-
lects, or oversees, many serious problems of phi-
losophy and life ; Voltaire does not satisfy an
intelligence above the average, when he simply
passes by any question whenever plain common
sense cannot solve it. It was just to try and give
an answer to problems which are not accessible
to the mediocre common sense that philosophers
came ; and whether they succeeded or failed, they
pleased us more than Voltaire who simply ignores
our higher faculties. On the other hand, if Vol-
taire contributed nothing to the thoughts of the 61itc
of humanity, he contributed a great deal to the
advancement of ideas in the masses ; he did away
with many superstitious beliefs, — he makes room
for new, useful ideas ; he is the most remarkable
vulgarizer of thoughts ; and in that domain an
art like his is more important than originality,
his literary talents more important than his phi-
losophical gifts : therefore, then, it seems to us
that Lanson is the one who rather than Pellissier,
studied Voltaire under the more characteristic
aspect of his genius.
This, at once, puts us before another question :
Why did Pellissier not study Voltaire from that
standpoint ? Because Pellissier — many passages
in the book betray this— wrote while he was pre-
occupied by some very concrete things, i. e., by
the momentous social problems which France is
just now facing. He saw in Voltaire an excellent
educator of the masses, for our time as well as for
the eighteenth century. He picked out Voltaire,
among so many other writers, because at a time
when the Church in France tries to react by ob-
scurantism against a perhaps too strong dose of
realism and rationalism, a dose of Voltaire, the
apostle of good common sense seemed an excellent
antidote. To express things somewhat differently,
Pellissier's book is interesting for us as a resurrec-
tion of the eighteenth century ideas at the begin-
ning of the twentieth century, about as in the
Renaissance we are interested to find and study a
resurrection of Classical ideals in Christian com-
munities. Or again, it is Pellissier who is inter-
esting in the book rather than Voltaire, as e. g., in
Maeterlink's book Les abeilles, the bees do not in-
terest us as much as the man who wrote about
them. It is a case that matches well enough the
case of the late Brunetifire, whose books of literary
criticism ought to be read more for Brunetiere's
philosophy, than for the, at times, objective
treatment of a subject.1
ALBERT SCHINZ.
Bryn Mawr College.
SHAKESPEARE.
The Shakespeare Apocrypha, being a Collection of
Fourteen Plays which have been ascribed to
Shakespeare. Edited, with Introduction, Notes
and Bibliography by C. F. TUCKER BROOKE,
B. Litt. , Senior Demy of Magdalen College,
Oxford. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1908.
8vo., pp. Ivi -f- 456.
There is in the entire range of the Elizabethan
drama no more curious group of plays than the
so-called ' ' doubtful plays ' ' of Shakespeare. Ever
since their ascription to the pen of the master-
dramatist they have been regarded with critical
suspicion and in consequence of the misguided
efforts of zealous champions they must suffer what-
ever odium attaches to presumptive illegitimacy in
the anonymous drama. The basis of their ascrip-
tion to Shakespeare varies quite as widely as the
merits of the plays themselves. Several were
deliberately issued during Shakespeare's lifetime
by enterprising publishers who recognized the
1 Only Pellissier is much more reliable than Brunetiere
as far as scholarship goes.
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
185
commercial value of a play in quarto written by
"W. S." or "W. Sh.", or, more frankly, by
"William Shakespeare." Others acquired an
added value about the time of the Restoration by
being described in the catalogues of careless or
unscrupulous booksellers as the work of Shake-
speare. A few won their way into the group by
being bound together in one volume in the library
of Charles II and labelled "Shakespeare. Vol. i."
Seven others were included in the second imprint
of the Third Folio (1664) and in the Fourth
Folio (1685). Finally, a number were added to
the list byu'jch critics as Theobald, Capell, Tieck,
Bernhardi and others who were guided largely by
internal evidence in attributing to Shakespeare
any anonymous play that contained lines or scenes
of unusual merit. Of the entire thirty-five or forty
plays of this character, only one (Pericles') is now
included in the Shakespeare canon, and two others
(The Two Noble Kinsmen and Edward III) are
found in a few modern editions of Shakespeare.
Mr. Brooke, in his admirable edition of the
Shakespeare Apocrypha, very wisely reprinted
only those plays that could reasonably be included
in the "doubtful " class. They include fourteen
plays in the following order : Arden of Feversham,
Loci'ine, Edward III, Muoedonu, Sir John Old-
castle, Thomas Lord Cromwell, The London Prodi-
gal, The Puritan, The Yorkshire Tragedy, The
Merry Devil of Edmonton, Fair Em, The Two
Noble Kinsmen, The Birth of Merlin and Sir
Thomas More. The Introduction discusses the
"doubtful plays" in general and considers the
merits of the particular plays included in the
present edition. Strangely enough, only a few of
these dramatic waifs had previously been edited
with any thoroughness in England and Mr. Brooke
has therefore had an opportunity to produce a vol-
ume that will undoubtedly become the standard
reference-text for these dramas. The choice of
the title Shakespeare Apocrypha is commendable,
because there is slight reason for calling anything
' ' doubtful ' ' when very little doubt exists in most
minds.
Throughout the volume there are evidences of
Mr. Brooke's editorial care and grasp of his mate-
rial. The original edition in each case forms the
basis for the text and variant readings of later edi-
tions are given in the footnotes. Each play (ex-
cepting Sir Thomas More, which was first printed
by Dyce in 1844) is preceded by a f'ac-simile of
the title-page of its first quarto. The text is fol-
lowed by notes, largely philological and with fre-
quent reference to that vast treasury of word-lore,
the New English Dictionary. The volume con-
cludes with an -extensive Bibliography embracing
collected editions, separate editions, translations,
general criticism, early notices, sources, analo-
gues, etc., and an index to the bibliography.
It is no reflection upon the merit of Mr. Brooke's
edition to say that his Bibliography is incomplete
and not free from trifling errors. The scholar who
hopes to publish an extensive bibliographical list
that is all-inclusive and beyond criticism is almost
inevitably doomed to disappointment. The fol-
lowing comments upon the Bibliography are,
therefore, given for what they are worth, and are
intended simply to supplement Mr. Brooke's really
admirable list, without questioning his undoubted
care in ite compilation.
P. 439, no. 7. Knight's Pictorial edition is in
8 vols.
P. 439, no. 8. A second edition of A Supple-
ment to the Plays of William
Shakespeare was published in
Philadelphia (Jas. B. Smith
&Co.), 1855.
P. 439, no. 9. This volume of Doubtful Plays
formed part of an edition of
Shakespeare in 4 vols. pub-
lished in London by J. Tallis
& Co. in [1851-1853]. As
the Doubtful Plays were prob-
ably published last, the date
should be [1853] rather than
[1851]. This would reverse
the position of nos. 9 and 10
in the Bibliography.
P. 440, no. 17. The list omits Mucedorus (1878)
which is given at p. 445, no.
23. Cf. Introduction, p. lv.
P. 440. The list of separate editions of
Arden of Feversham omits one
by [A. F. Hopkinson], Lon-
don (Edward White) 1890
and another by Mr. Hopkin-
son, not anonymously this
186
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
time, London (M. E. Sims),
1898. Neither of these is
mentioned in the list at p.
440, no. 19. I find no refer-
ence to the adaptation of
Arden of Feversham begun by
George Lillo, completed by
John Hoadly, printed in Lil-
lo's Works (1775) and re-
printed several times during
the past century.
P. 442, no. 8. In addition to this item, there
was also an edition of Edward
III privately printed by J.
Payne Collier in quarto in
1874.
P. 446, no. 12. The date should be 1894, not
1895. Of. p. 440, no. 19.
P. 447, no. 20. Dr. Rolfe's edition of The Two
Noble Kinsmen appeared first
in 1883, not 1891 ; hence nos.
19 and 20 should be reversed.
P. 451, no. 46. For Phillips read Phillipps. A
later edition of the Outlines
(e. g., the 8th or 9th) would
be preferable to the 3rd for
citation.
P. 453, no. 1. For Four volumes, 1875-7, read
Five volumes, 1875-94.
P. 454, no. 3. The Collier edition of Henslowe
(1845) has been superseded
by the Greg edition (vol. i,
1904). Vol. ii has since
appeared (1908).
To the list of critical works on the Apocrypha
should be added :
Howe, F. A. The Authorship of the Birth of
Merlin. Modern Philology, iv (193-205).
Hubbard, F. G. Repetition and Parallelism of
Style in the Earlier Elizabethan Drama.
Pub. Mod. Lang. Assn., xx (360-379).
Contains valuable notes on Locrine.
Schelling, F. E. The English Chronicle Play,
1902. Professor Schelling' s Elizabethan
Drama (1908) appeared after Mr.
Brooke's volume went to press.
Singer, H. \V. Das biirgerliche Trauerspiel in
England, 1891.
Doubtless other titles will be added to the
Bibliography when a new edition of The Shake-
speare Apocrypha is brought out.
JOHN Louis HANEY.
Central High School, Philadelphia.
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE.
The Oriental Tale in England in the Eighteenth
Century. By MARTHA PIKE CONANT, Ph. D.
(Columbia University Studies in Comparative
Literature.) Columbia University Press, New
York. Pp. xxvi + 312.
This well-conceived monograph, another of the
suggestive ventures of this Series into new and
interesting fields, presents fairly the scope and
significance of what was in its day an important
literary fashion. It contains an Introduction,
chapters ou the Imaginative, Moralistic, Philo-
sophic and Satiric " Groups " among the writings
under discussion, a brief Literary Estimate, Ap-
pendices with notes and bibliographical matter,
and an Index. Much of this is well done. Miss
Conant has read widely in the often-dull pages
of the Eighteenth Century Oriental Tales them-
selves, and has given good descriptions of many
works practically inaccessible to most readers. In
her remarks upon particular books there is much
sound criticism ; for example, in the estimates of
Gueullette's volumes (pp. 31-36), of Charoba
(pp. 55-61), of Lyttelton's Persian Letters (pp.
178-186), and in the comparison of Tom Brown
and Dufresnoy. The book deals more success-
fully, indeed, with these minor works than with
the more important and familiar productions of
Addison, Johnson, Voltaire, and Montesquieu.
The defects of the book are mainly matters
of formulation. The author does not always
say clearly and adequately what she means. In
the Introduction, for example, while it is proper
enough to begin with Havana's Turkish Spy
(1687), it would be well to tell the reader that
at least twenty-five other works of prose fic-
tion, Oriental and pseudo-Oriental, had appeared
in English between 1660 and 1700. The chapter
on the Imaginative Group seems much too long.
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
187
The twelve pages of generalized description of the
Arabian Nights might well have been compressed
and the space used to show more definitely wherein
the Galland version of this familiar work, as well
as the contemporary English and French versions
of the "Persian" and "Turkish" Talus were
genuinely Oriental in flavor and wherein they
were like other French and English writing of
their day. In the later chapters the attempted
differentiation of the larger body of pseudo-Orien-
tal writings into "Moralistic," "Philosophic,"
and "Satiric" Groups, — scarcely borne out by
the facts, — tends to obscure the more important
fact, that the Oriental Tale, so-called, was culti-
vated by English and French writers of the cen-
tury chiefly as offering a convenient frame for
expository comment on life.
Throughout the book, moreover, one wishes
that Miss Conaut had been more precise in mark-
ing the differences in the treatment of Oriental
matter shown by the successive periods of that
rapidly changing century. That would serve to
show, more satisfactorily, for instance, the relation
of the Oriental Tale to what is called Romanticism.
Miss Conant tells us that the popularity of the
Oriental element with the reading public, alike in
translations of genuine works of the East, and in
Western imitations, was a phase of the growing
Romantic craving, which was fed by the action
and the color of the Oriental genre. But this
idea, though stated in the Preface and the Intro-
duction, is developed only in the last few pages of
the book, and then so vaguely as to seem almost
an afterthought. The book has ample justification
without it, but if presented it should be supported
by fuller evidence.
In a study of this sort the bibliographical list of
specimens of the form under discussion should be
as nearly complete as possible. Miss Conant, in
Appendix B. 1, mentions altogether some 154
titles for the 113 years from 1687 to 1800, to which
should be added eight others listed in Appendix
B. 2. But 49 of the 154 are titles of papers in
the Spectator and similar periodicals, and ten
others seem to be verse. This list might have
been much fuller. Arber's reprint of the London
Term Catalogues for 1687-1709, together with
the monthly lists of "Books Published" in the
Gentleman's Magazine for 1731-1775, — to go no
further, — give the titles of some 56 books not
mentioned in this " Chronological List, " most of
them novels with Oriental setting or political and
social satire in Oriental terms. A few cases may
be noted. Miss Conant lists, for example, one
novel in the set of Modern Novels (Bentley,
1692 ?), in the British Museum, but that set
contains five other novels with Oriental setting,
all of them published after 1687. Miss Conant' s
statement (p. 269), that the date of the first edi-
tion of the Arabian Nights is "unknown," should
be supplemented by the statement that the ' ' Sev-
enth Volume" of an English version of the work
is listed in the Tain Catalogue for Easter, 1708.
There is no mention in the "Chronological List"
of the History of King Apprius (1728), a trans-
lation from Godart de Beauchamps, though it is at
least as important a novel as Mrs. Hay wood's
History of Eoraii, etc. , the first edition of which,
it should be said, appeared in 1736, not 1741.
There is no mention of so well-known a work as
the English translation of PreVost's Histoire d' Une
Grecque Moderne, which appeared in 1741-42,
nor of the first English translation of Crebillon's
Le Sopha, in 1742, nor of Usong, an Eastern Nar-
rative (1773), a story in Hawkesworth's manner,
translated from -the German of Baron Haller.
Miss Conant' s list, the fullest hitherto printed,
and a welcome aid to students of Eighteenth Cen-
tury literature, would be still more useful if it
could be made complete.
JOHN M. CLAPP.
Lake Forest College.
A CONCORDANCE TO GRAY.
A Concordance to the English Poems of Thomas
Gray. Edited by ALBERT S. COOK, President
of the Concordance Society. Boston and New
York : Houghton Mifflin Company. The River-
side Press, Cambridge, 1908. 8vo, pp. xi, 160.
Price, $3.00 net.
The first fruits of the Concordance Society,
organized in 1906 (see Modern Language Notes for
February, 1907), are now before us in the form
of a handsome volume devoted to a poet who is
188
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, JVb. 6.
altogether worthy of the labor. The choice, says
the editor, ' ' was dictated by these considerations :
his historical importance ; the public interest in
him; and the moderate compass of his works."
It may well be added that Gray was a fastidious
and severe critic, scarcely less of his own poems
than of the works of others ; his choice of words,
therefore, is a matter of significance out of all
proportion to the small bulk of his poetry, and in
consequence a lexicon or concordance of his poems
is one of the most imperative needs of studeuts of
eighteenth century literature.
The text used by the compilers is that of Gosse,
published in 1884. Why this edition was used
instead of the revised Gosse of 1902 or the
generally excellent Aldine edition of Bradshaw,
1891, is not evident ; a statement of the reasons
in the Preface would have been welcome. The
use of either of these, for example, would have
added one more line containing nor (Hymn to
Adversity 36) to the list ; Gosse's first edition
like most others, has the misprint not.1
The question of normalization, remarks the edi-
tor, was a difficult one. The practice adopted,
on the whole, will probably meet with general
approval, at least in America ; and we hope that
British readers may in time come to view it with
resignation. Thus the -our forms have been
brought together under head-words in -or ; riseing
is entered under rising ; redning under reddening;
tort' ring under torturing; murther under murder;
fav'rite and favourite under favorite. We do not,
however, approve of the head-form rime, which
we believe is purely a scholar' s form, not yet gen-
erally adopted. For this purpose rhyme would
have been preferable.
Following the precedent of Strong's Concord-
ance to the Bible, the compilers have omitted
forty-seven of the commonest words. These are
"The use of Tovey's scholarly edition (Cambridge,
University Press, 1898, reprinted 1904) would have made
possible a fuller treatment of the variants of the Fraser
MS. (called by Bradshaw the Original and by Gosse the
Mason MS. ) of the Elegy, some of which Gosse omits
(«. g., 11 stray too, 12 pry into). It should be noted, too,
that none of the variants of The Alliance of Education
and Government (some of which Tovey adopts in his
text) is included in the Concordance. One cannot help
wishing, therefore, that some of the compilers had been
more familiar with the textual criticism of Gray.
for the most part entirely proper omissions, made
in the interest of economy. It may be questioned,
however, if the number of words omitted should
exceed this, and we incline to think that of these
as and shall should not be omitted.
The compilers of this volume were Professor
Cook, Dr. Elbert N. S. Thompson, and Messrs.
Frederic T. Bknchard and Alfred A. May, of
Yale ; Dr. Charles G. Osgood, of Princeton ; and
Miss Ernestine L. Miller, of Wellsboro, Pennsyl-
vania. They, as well as the readers of the proofs,
deserve to be heartily congratulated on accom-
plishing the task with such accuracy. So far as
•we have tested the book, it is free from errors.
The Concordance Society has undertaken a use-
ful work. It should have the hearty support of
all who love poetry and who do not abhor exact
and thorough studies, such as a concordance
makes possible.
CLARK S. NORTHUP.
Cornell University.
FRENCH GRAMMAR.
A French Grammar with Exercises and Supple-
mentary Reading for Schools and Colleges. By
HUGO P. THIEME and JOHN R. EFFINGER, of
the University of Michigan. New York : The
Macmillan Co., 1908. 12mo., viii, 411 pp.
Of the making of grammars there is no end, to
paraphrase a familiar saying, and the latest can-
didate for the attention of teachers is the one, of
which the first impression was sent out by the
Macmillan Company in July of the present year.1
Altho there are many French grammars already
on the market, new ones will always be welcome,
provided they offer suitable preparation for the
study of French in college and for later study.
Such is the case with the one in question. An
examination of the book shows that the authors
have not attempted to produce a novelty in the
subject, nor to be radical in its treatment, but that
they desire to present a manual that will enable
the beginner to acquire as soon as possible, and in
an interesting manner, an accurate knowledge of
1 This review was written in October, 1908.
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
189
the essentials of French. The initial statement in
the Introduction is that ' ' it has not been the in-
tention of the authors to write a complete French
grammar. They have rather sought to present
the things most essential to a general knowledge
of French." In this they have succeeded. The
statements are generally clear and full enough,
the sentences are practical, and are well graded,
the verbs are presented early, and the most
common irregular verbs are given as soon as
can be done with safety. The exercises, both
French and English, are long, and give an oppor-
tunity for plenty of drill and review. The au-
thors have wisely included the phonetic symbols
of the Association Phonetique Internationale to
indicate pronunciation. It is probable that few
teachers who have given a trial to this feature,
will ever return to a grammar in which the pro-
nunciation is not indicated in the vocabularies, for
experience shows that, with such markings, the
teacher is relieved of much useless explanation,
and the student feels greater confidence and se-
curity in the preparation of his lessons. Inter-
esting extracts for reading are introduced as soon
as practicable, and the selections have been made
with the purpose of avoiding hackneyed articles.
The only one that comes to the teacher as an old
acquaintance in the elementary stage is La Der-
niere Clause. The extracts are varied in charac-
ter, consisting of short stories, history (for sight
reading), and verse, and should be of interest to
the beginner of whatever age. It is agreeable to
note also, that the new rules for syntax have not
been mentioned. Some of the recent publications
for the American beginner have included these
"tolerances," which is not well, for foreigners
may not be innovators, and, until the French
public have generally adopted these new rules,
the student should be taught the established ones
and no others. The Introduction explains fully
the purpose of the authors and the plan of the
book. The publishers' part of the work has been
well done. The type is clear, and the page at-
tractive. A Vocabulary, with phonetic transcrip-
tions, and an Index conclude the volume.
Typographical errors are noticed as follows :
P. 8, 1. 3, crfime r. creme ; p. 18, 2, le r. \9 ;
§36. 4b (abigyite) r. (Sbigqite), § 81 (§ 17) r.
(§57); p. 41, 3 (el e) add (or £); § 66 (ja ro)
r. (53 r5); § 74 (finisje) r. (finisje); p. 57, A6,
donniont r. donnions ; § 104, lis, pastdef., r. lus,
(li) r. (lu) ; p. 98, A13, compagne r. campagne ;
p. 100, 2, Eleonore r. Eleonore ; p. 101, tu es
(e) r. (e), '1 est (e) r. (e or «); p. 105 (masj0)
r. (mesj0), (lue) r. (Iwe) ; p. Ill, second col.,
(samyse) r. (samyze) ; § 117, tu te coupe r. tu te
coupes ; § 120, 1'un, 1'autre ; les uns, les autres,
remove commas ; p. 131, 4 from bot., (veno) r.
(vano); 141 (st) better (se); § 146, variable r.
invariable ; § 149, j6crirai r. j' — ; p. 151, 12,
9'a a r. 9*a ; p. 160, second col., tu doive r. tu
doives ; § 165, 2, la r. la ; p. 171, 7 from bot.,
entendu r. entendue ; p. 194, oral 2, § 225 ; p.
234, 18, A, remove accent ; pp. 222, 227, 232,
du Dindon r. de Dindon ; p. 228, 17, lancai r.
langai; p. 232, 5, (byvo) r. (byvo); p. 239,
6paix r. epais ; p. 244, acquerrai r. acquerrai ;
p. 247, drop dechoyais, and insert dash ; p. 249,
gis r. git ; p. 251, paissant, pals r. paissant, pais,
pait ; p. 253, resouds r. r&ous ; p. 260, 1, JEr.
Je ; p. 268, 8 from bot., vegu r. v6cu ; p. 286, 13,
mere r. mere ; p. 320, 11, pou r. par ; in the
Vocabulary : (absoly, -ma, absyrd) r. ap- for
ab-), (ene) r. (ene), (alsas) r. (alzas), Angelus
r. Angelus, (atropologi) r. (atropoloji), (apare:j)
r. (apare:j), (aseje) r. (aseje), (asosje) r.
(asosje), (ogsbu:r) r. (ogzbu:r), (av0gl) r.
(avo3gl), (bd:d) r. (ba:d), bailler r. bailler,
(bjenet:r) r. (bjeneitr), (bjeveja:s) r. (bjeve-
ja:s), (bwa) r. (bwa), (ben) servant r. (ban),
(Jokola) r. (Jokola), (sjal) r. (sjel), (kopap,
kopapi) r. (k5 — ), (k5tre:r)r. (k5tr«:r), (crime)
r. (krime), (krqel) r. (kryel), (daze:r), desert,
r. (deze:r), (dese:r), dessert, r. (dese:r), (ejue) r.
(ejwe), (efase) r. (efase) , (efare) r.(efare), (agjae)
r. (Qgaje), 6paix r. epais, (espa:s) r. (espars),
est(e) add (or e), (establisma) r. (etablisma),
(fabl) r. (fabl) cf. p. 5, (fote:n) r. (f5te:n), (fue)
r. (fwe), huit r. *huit, (il i) r. (ilj), (ekrwQ-
jabl) r. (ekrwajabl), (edanite) r. (edamnite),
(ine) r. (inne), (eta) r. (etakt), (luabl, lua:j,
luQij) r. (Iw— ), (me) mai r. (me), (med(a)se,
med(a)sinr. (metse, metsin, or met-),(meprizabl)
r. (meprizabl), (nusj0) r. (mesj0), (me:tr) mettre
r, (metr), (mwa) mois r. (mwa), (mostrq0) r.
mostry0), (ostine) r. (opstiue), (opinatrete) r.
(opinjatrate), (sozjem) r. (sezjem), (ytrek) r.
(ytrekt), (trwa) Troyes r. (trwa), (vjer:;$) r.
(vjerg), (vcstfali) r. (vesfali).
190
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
Phonetic transcriptions are omitted from the
lists in paragraphs 59. 1 and 69.
Uniformity is not observed in the phonetic
treatment of mute e within the word : P. 333
(apale), 345 (de^le), 357 (gabri), 371 (parva-
ni:r), and other examples in which the (a) is ex-
pressed, while in many others it is suppressed ;
331 (ajte), 332 (alma), 333 (amne), 347 (dev-
lopmd), 350 (elve), etc. In the phonetic tran-
scription of nouns in the vocabularies accompany-
ing the lessons, the authors begin by indicating
the pronunciation of the definite article before
nouns having initial mute h or a vowel : (lekol),
Less. I. This is done generally, but, in a large
number of instances, the article is not indicated in
the transcription : (afd), Less, nr, (amerik), iv.
etc. The article should preferably be indicated
in every case.
In the remarks on pronunciation the directions,
altho approximate, are generally sufficient to
start the beginner correctly, but fnlloiv and hot,
§ 7,2 are incorrect illustrations for (a). They
are nearer (a) than (a).
Certain words are not in the proper vocabulary :
travail, Less, iv, is not used until p. 49 ; quitter,
used in xvm, given in xix ; regie, used in xix,
given in xxv. There are also omissions from the
vocabularies : verbe, xn, donner, look (of rooms,
etc. ) xv, fond of, xvm, stairway, xx, descendre,
transitive, seat, chr6tiente, xxn, return, xxv.
Some of these are absent from the general vocabu-
lary also.
There are a few careless errors in English :
"only" should be placed before the word that it
modifies: § 77, § 165, § 185, p. 214, Bl, 9, etc.
The usage here criticized is common in America,
but the construction should be avoided. Correct
"would" to "should," pp. 57 B7, 104. 16, 194
B8, and many others. "Whose" is a question-
able word, § 157.
Paragraph 26. 1 should be rewritten and di-
vided, as a general and a special statement are
confusingly mixed. Insert ' ' of nouns ' ' after
"case," §50; also insert, " but are pronounced
before names of months, beginning with a con-
sonant" after "consonant," § 201. 1, 1. 3. Omit
"thereby becoming hard," § 98, or make a sepa-
rate note. Insert q after /, § 6.
The punctuation of both French and English
sentences should receive attention and correction
in many instances.
The feminine inflection of the past participle
with &tre is used, pp. 36 A2, 39. 3, etc., in ad-
vance of the rule. Students will generally not
recognize the adjectival function of the participle
in this construction without explanation. The
definite article is used with the noun in a general
sense, Less, vn, without explanation. On p. 58,
B3, 4, and in following exercises, the noun subject
is used in interrogative sentences without illus-
trative models or explanation.
A serious omission in the book is the failure to
explain the formation and use of the past indefi-
nite, while the past definite is given in full, p. 59.
As early as p. 37 the past indefinite is used in
French, and the word "did" in English, but the
tense is not discussed until p. 61, and then in only
a short paragraph. The student does not get the
drill that is necessary in the use of this tense, and
is liable to gain the idea that it is a negligible
tense. In the note, p. 123, rather late, however,
attention is called to the necessity for the use of
the past indefinite.
The errors mentioned can be easily corrected in
future impressions, and the changes suggested
can be made without difficulty, should the authors
agree with the reviewer.
The grammar is well worthy of a trial in the
class-room, and will doubtless prove, as already
stated, to be a satisfactory manual for the prepa-
ration of students for college and for later work in
French.
A. E. CURDY.
Yale University.
The Poesies Diverges of Antoine Fwetiere. A
partial reprint from the edition of 1664, edited
with Introduction, Notes and Glossary, by
ISABELLE BEONK. Baltimore, 1908. Large
8vo., xliii + 117 pp.
Furetiere stands with posterity as the author of
Le Roman bourgeois, though an inner circle can
recall his Dictionary, of unlucky fame. But
hardly any one now realizes that he was also
a poet of considerable worth. His misfortune
was to be obscured by Boileau, Racine, Moliere
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
191
and La Fontaine, his companions and his inti-
mates. Because of their greater talent Furetiere' s
very respectable endowments were soon forgotten.
His works were neglected, and with the exception
of his novel and the documents relating to his
quarrel with the Academy, they do not seem to
have survived even his own existence. He surely
deserved better of his countrymen, for he repre-
sents in literature the genuine French stock, Gal-
lic if you will, and it is with a feeling of justice
rendered to an able man that we welcome his
return to the ranks of poets and satirists.
Miss Bronk has taken the material for her
attractively printed volume from the second edi-
tion of the Poesies Diverses, which appeared in
1664, nine years after the first edition. It
includes all the satires, epistles and elegies, and
a fair proportion of the comparatively unimpor-
tant society verse. The satires are, of course, the
most significant and the most interesting, with
their keen ridicule of the professional classes of
the day. Boileau, and also Moliere, found in
them many suggestions for their best compositions.
The epistles and elegies combine with the cus-
tomary proffers of homage a good-natured rail-
lery of Parisian manners and fashions. The
society verse brings Voiture before us, but a more
solid and an honest Voiture. The ' ' Stances au
Roy " might be cited in point, where after laud-
ing Louis' deeds at arms the poet reminds the
monarch that noble laurels may be won in other
fields :
Assez par ses combats la France est renomme'e,
Centre elle seulement 1' ignorance est arme'e,
Pren soin pour 1'amioblir de cultiver les Arts :
De la Guerre et des Arts vient une gloire e'gale,
Et ce fut la Tribune, aussi bien que Pharsale,
Qui rendit si fameux le premier des Ce'sars.
The text is prefaced by a lengthy Introduction,
where the facts of Furetiere' s career are gathered
together from all available sources, printed and
manuscript, and subjected to a friendly scrutiny.
Commentaries on the style and thought of his
various publications, literary and linguistic, run
in and out of the biography. A final chapter
discusses the author's relations with Boileau.
Excellent notes are appended to the text, and
also a well chosen glossary of unusual words and
expressions.
The typography reproduces the spelling of the
original and thus subserves a linguistic purpose as
well. We only question whether the old and
arbitrary confusion of v and u is not needlessly
disconcerting. The effort of the editor to revive
an interest in Furetiere, the poet, is successful in
every way, and we hope that the present volume
may be the forerunner of other selections from his
works. For hardly a library in this country con-
tains any of his verse, so helpful, however, to an
understanding of the literary history of France
under Louis XIV.
F. M. WARREN.
Yule University.
Les Sources italiennes de la "Defense et Illustra-
tion de la langue francoise" de Joachim Du
Bellay. Par PIERRE VILLEY. (Bibliotheque
litteraire de la Renaissance, ix. ) Paris : Li-
brairie H. Champion, 1908. Small octavo,
pp. 162.
This little brochure is by the author of the
three large and important volumes on Montaigne
— on the Sources and the Evolution of the Essais
—that appeared last Spring, and that gained for
M. Villey the title of dodeur es lettres. The pres-
ent work, small as it is, cannot fail to add to its
young writer's already distinguished reputation.
It has the same qualities of remarkable scholar-
ship, keenness of perception and excellence of
presentation that is to be found in his previous
productions.
The object of this etude is to make known that
the originality of thought and expression that has
been ascribed to the 'Defense et Illustration ' is
far less than has been believed : that, in fact, it
amounts to very little. M. Villey has discovered
— that word is here literally true — that not only
the most important part of Du Bellay' s famous
argument for the use of the vulgar tongue, but
the verbal expression of it is taken directly from
a not very well-known Italian author — Sperone
Speroni. Several of Du Bellay' s chapters are
simply translated from the Italian text.
This surprising news M. Villey prefaces by an
admirable and very interesting study of the influ-
ence of Italian writers on the P16iade and on the
192
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
development of the French language in the six-
teenth century.
But the little volume begins farther back than
that, with a sketch of the development of the Tus-
can tongue at the beginning of the fifteenth cen-
tury, and points out that the emancipation of the
Italian vulgar preceded by two or three genera-
tions that of the French vulgar. M. Villey gives
interesting sketches of the men who wrought this
work, and citations from their writings : — Leone
Battista Alberti among the earliest. A hundred
years later when the most original works were
already clothed in Italian, the discussion regard-
ing the superiority of Latin still continued, and
Cardinal Bembo, who was counted among the
pure Cicerouians, astonished the world of letters
by openly taking sides with the ' ' party of the
barbarians," and became the principal defender
of the Tuscan tongue.
Alberti had only claimed the right of the
Italian language to existence. Bembo asserted
that for certain subjects it should always be em-
ployed, and declared that the ancient languages
no longer sufficed for modern needs.
Many minor questions arose in the debates on
the principal points, and M. Villey describes the
grammatical and orthographical labors that now
were entered upon, while the fighting between
Latin and Italian still continued. These later
battles — skirmishes of varying fortune — were un-
important as regarded the cause in Italy ; Bembo
had secured its victory ; but as regarded France,
they were of moment. Their contemporary char-
acter not only attracted the attention of those
Frenchmen who were rising to defend their own
language, but they did not hesitate to borrow
from their Italian brothers armor and weapons
for the fight.
The most conspicuous of these Frenchmen was
Joachim Du Bellay : henceforth indissolubly asso-
ciated with him — thanks to M. Villey — is the
Italian Speroue Speroni, a celebrity in his own
day, whose dying fame is now suddenly revivified.
He was twenty-four years older than Du Bellay ;
and in 1542 there were published ten Dialogues
by him. They had a great and immediate suc-
cess ; the Aldus press issued five new editions in
the next four years. One of these Dialogues
was "Delia Lengua"; and of this Dialogue the
' 'Deffense et Illustration " is in great measure a
translation. The ample and entirely convincing
proofs of this are to be found in M. Villey' s
volume. He gives twenty pages of parallel pas-
sages and then prints in full Speroni' s Dialogues.
He deals justly with Du Bellay and somewhat
lightens the blow to his reputation dealt by the
facts here set forth, by remarking that these bor-
rowings should not be judged from our modern
point of view. In M. Villey' s words : " Du Bel-
lay would have thought himself blameworthy had
he borrowed phrases and whole chapters from a
French author ; but to despoil a foreign author,
writing in a different language from ours, was to
play the part of a good Frenchman — was to
labor for the enrichment of our language."
GRACE NORTON.
Cambridge, Mass.
MODERN FRENCH LITERATURE.
MICHEL SALOMON : Charles Nodier et le groups
romantique, d'aprbs des documents inedits.
Paris : Perrin et Cie., 1908.
Great interest attaches to the publication of M.
Salomon' s Nodier, relieving, as it does, one of the
most interesting figures in the French Romantic
School. One is rather surprised that the task
should have been left undoue so long. No work
of importance on Nodier has been published since
1867, the date of his daughter's Souvenirs ; yet
none of the minor Romanticists are more sympa-
thetic, or more important in literary history.
This book is very carefully ' documents, ' and
written in a style not without humour. A little
over one-third of the volume is taken up with the
life of Nodier. Much unpublished detail is here
brought to light : the author has ransacked mu-
nicipal records and old letter-files, verifying his
dates and incidents with an almost philological
patience. Less vivid than Mme. Menessier's
reminiscences, M. Salomon's chapters give us, in
recompense, a more complete portrait of the
genial polygraph and bibliophile : we may fol-
low him, a second La Fontaine, in his youthful
wanderings in the Jura, read snatches of his
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
193
father's monitory letters, catcli glimpses of his
life at Sir Herbert Crofts', or at Laybach, or
at Paris, presiding over the hospitable salon of
the Arsenal The last third of this biography
seems rather slighted ; twenty years are passed
over in some ten pages. We regret, too, the
charm of Mme. Menessier's more personal style,
yet perhaps no more than M. Salomon himself,
who frequently takes over her narrative almost
word for word.
The second part of the volume treats of the
Arsenal group, sketching in the host and racon-
teur that we have come to know in Dumas'
Memoires, then taking up consecutively some
forty of those who at one time or another figured
among the guests. Many forgotten glories, con-
servatives as well as Romanticists, pass before us
in more or less vivid processional : they enter,
pay their tribute of poem or compliment to Marie,
have their discussion or their bon-mot with their
host, and take their leave. Of their literary re-
lations to Nodier, of their contributions to the
feast of reason and the flow of soul, — as well as
of Nodier' s influence upon their productions — we
find out, unfortunately, little or nothing. These
are details one rarely finds in 'documents.'
The last third of the book takes up the works
of Nodier. In such a volume, of course, only a
sketch is possible : Nodier' s publications fill a
hundred columns in the Manuel of Vicaire. The
sketch is in the main well done ; yet those who
do not possess Vicaire would have appreciated a
condensation of his extended bibliography, printed
in small type at the end of the volume. Aside
from the usefulness of such a list, it would give,
better than any possible statement, an idea of the
manifold intellectual interests of this ' Juif errant
de la litterature. ' In the discussion of Nodier' s
fiction, which remains his principal title to remem-
brance, we might reasonably expect a somewhat
more extended treatment, correlating it with the
literature of its time ; we find, for instance, no
mention of Lord Ruthwen, the original of the
melodrama Les Vampires, the probable inspiration
of Hugo's Han d' Islande, and the avatar of that
sanguinary eeole feroce to which we owe Clara
Qazul, El Verdugo, and L'Ane mort.
But it is easy to find fault, and M. Salomon
has given us, on the whole, an admirable piece of
work. It is now left for some one to take up the
question of Nodier's literary influence, not so
much from ' documents ' as from the works them-
selves.
LEWIS PIAGET SHANKS.
University of Idaho.
HISTORICAL GERMAN GRAMMAR.
Historical German Grammar. Vol. i. Phonology,
Word-Formation, and Accidence. By JOSEPH
WEIGHT, Ph. D., D. C. L., LL. D., Litt. D.,
Fellow of the British Academy, Professor of
Comparative Philology in the University of
Oxford. Oxford University Press, 1907. Pp.
xvi + 314.
The distinguished editor of the English Dialect
Dictionary believes that the comparatively small
number of people who take a real interest in the
scientific study of language is due chiefly to the
lack of suitable handbooks written in English.
To meet this want he has begun to edit The
Students' Series of Historical and Comparative
Grammars, of which the present is the initial
volume. This volume has already been followed
by an Old English Grammar by the editor and
Elizabeth Mary Wright. A volume on historical
German syntax is to be contributed by Dr.
Fiedler.
Probably most persons interested in historical
German grammar have a sufficient command of
modern German to use works written in German ;
but Professor Wright has certainly succeeded in
selecting the best results of German scholarship
and in making an attractive and effective presen-
tation of them for English-speaking students.
There is, indeed, no equally useful book on the
subject of similar size written in German, and
German students with a sufficient command of
English might use it to advantage. For its size,
it contains an astonishing amount of accurate and
useful information. The following remarks are
not intended to detract materially from this praise.
In chapters iv-vi the author treats successively
the OHG. Development of the General Germanic
Vowel-System, the MHG. Development of the
OHG. Vowel-System, and the NHG. Develop-
194
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
ment of the MHG. Vowel-System. This treat-
ment, traditional since Grimm, was for the most
part abandoned by Wilmanns, to advantage as it
seems to the reviewer. It gives summaries of the
conditions, as far as the vowels are concerned, for
three more or less arbitrarily chosen points of
time, but it makes it difficult for the student to
obtain a clear idea of the history of each vowel
and diphthong from the beginnings to the present.
For instance, in order to account for the vowel-
variation in siech : seuche, one has to look in § §
77, 84, 85, 127, 136.
P. 17, § 23 : "Thus in Sanskrit and Old Greek
the accent was predominantly pitch, whereas in
the oldest periods of the Italic dialects, and the
Keltic and Germanic languages, the accent was
predominantly stress. This difference in the sys-
tem of accentuation is clearly seen in Old Greek
and the old Germanic languages by the preserva-
tion of the vowels of the unaccented syllables in
the former and the weakening or lo?s of them in
the latter." The student will naturally ask why
the Latin then does not show the same weakening
or loss of unaccented syllables as the Germanic
languages.
The author does not in general expect the stu-
dent to have a knowledge of phonetics or of com-
parative philology, but on p. 18 he says : "The
quality of the accent in the parent language was
partly ' broken ' (acute) and partly ' slurred '
(circumflex)." In the absence of further ex-
planation these terms will be of little use to the
student. Similarly on p. 232 the reader will be
puzzled by the terms ' ' imperfect presents ' ' and
' ' aorist presents, ' ' which, moreover, are not
needed. P. 243: "In OHG. perfective verbs
like bringan, findan, queman, werdan, did not
have the prefix gi- in the past participle, nor did
verbs containing an unaccented prefix corres-
ponding to NHG. be-, ent-, er-, ge-, ver-, zer-,
&c." This is unfortunately worded, for the lat-
ter verbs were of course all perfective. But will
the student understand the term ' perfective '
without further explanation 1 The doctrine of
' actionsarten ' has not yet, as far as we know,
percolated into the school-books ; even the most
complete recent treatment of German grammar,
Professor Curme's, does not mention it, although
it would be useful in explaining certain construc-
tions in modern German.
We are puzzled by the statement, p. 21 : "In
compound nouns the first element of which is used
attributively, the accent varies according as the
first or the second element of the compound is
the more important, as grossmutter, jungfrau, but
viertelst-&nde, nordwest, sildwest, &c. " The accent
tends toward the first element in the same degree
as the two elements combine into a true compound
and become differentiated in meaning (and often
in form), from the original collocation of words ;
there is as yet no difference in meaning between
eine viertel stunde and eine viertektimde corres-
ponding to that between eine junge frau and eine
jungfrau, hence the accent in viertelstunde is not
yet established on the first element. Furthermore,
it would be difficult to maintain that in grossmutter
gross is more important than mutter, or even that
it is more important than viertel in viertelstunde.
P. 28 : OHG. dlhan is carried back to *Arjx-
anan, older />ei)xanan, while a little below OHG.
sizzen is carried back to *sedjonom. This incon-
sistency must trouble the learner. — P. 29, § 56 :
The few clear cases hardly warrant the formula-
tion of such a rule ; this matter is not yet well
enough understood. — P. 39, § 79, ' umlaut ' is
defined as "modification (palatalization) of an
accented vowel through the influence of an i oij
in the following syllable," and on p. 51, § 100,
the school-grammar term "u umlaut" is used
instead of ' i-umlaut of u ' ; both will prepare the
student but ill for the terminology which he will
find in other scientific grammars, among them the
author's own Old English Grammar (§§ 47 f. ). —
P. 39, § 79 : "The only vowel which underwent
this change [umlaut] in OHG. was a." This is
in part contradicted by what follows. — P. 44,
§81, note 3: "In Alemanic (except Swabian)
the monophthongs p, u, iii\ remained until the
early NHG. period." They are found in HebePs
Alemannigche Gedichle (1803 and later), and are
the rule in Southern Alemanic to this day. —
P. 49 : "Rounded o, u and au (en) were not
distinguished in pronunciation from unrounded
e, i, ei until far into the eighteenth century."
What should have caused the later distinction 1
These sounds were certainly originally distin-
guished, but in parts of Upper and Middle Ger-
many, not everywhere by any means, unrounding
took place, the first traces of this appearing in
the twelfth century.
June, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
195
P. 86, § 182. It is not clear what is meant by
"differentiated meanings in einzeln beside ein-
zelnen."—P. 87, §185 : "By ablaut is meant
the gradation of vowels both in stem and suffix,
which was caused by the primitive Indo-Germanic
system of accentuation. ' ' Some kinds of ablaut,
however, must be due to causes other than varia-
tion of accent. — P. 91, § 190. In the table of
Indo-Gerrnanic consonants the labialized velars
are entirely omitted ; the mention of them in a
brief note hardly makes up for this omission in
view of their importance for the explanation of
many words.— P. 134, § 264 : "MHG. z is
written with voiceless s in NHG. feid," etc.
This suggests a special character for voiceless s. —
P. 139, §276 : "The prim. Germanic spirant
% from Indg. k became an aspirate (written /t)
initially," etc. But h is never properly an as-
pirate ; cf. the definition of aspirate, p. 92, top.
— P. 140, § 280. In the discussion of h as a sign
of vowel-length we miss an explanation of the use
of th.—P. 163, § 341. The altogether peculiar
formation of the verbs in -ieren, in which the reg-
ular endings of the verb are attached to an infini-
tive form, ought to have been more clearly brought
out.— P. 237, § 476 : "In late MHG. the first
pers. pi. came to be used for the third person,
whence the NHG. ending." But there was also
a purely phonetic tendency to drop the final t, as
may be seen in MHG. in the present participle. —
§ 478. The forms komme lasse are at least per-
missible by the side ofkomm, lass. — P. 238, § 479.
It does not appear why *nom/>a, *namVa, *namd
should give *namt ; and the -t of the 2. sing. pret.
in the preterit-present verbs thus remains unex-
plained.—P. 240, §484. The o in the preterit
singular of Class n is not only due to the past
participle ; many verbs had 5 in the preterit sin-
gular from the beginning. Something should
have been said about the chronology of levelling
in the verbs ; most people would be astonished to
learn, for instance, that as late as 1668 Schottel,
the most eminent grammarian of his time, teaches
ich band, du bundest, er band. — P. 246, § 493.
Here and in many other places we miss a sugges-
tion of reasons for particular levellings. Why, for
instance, did the first person singular follow the
plural and the infinitive sooner than did the second
or third person ; why did forms like fleugt, bent
succumb to the influence of analogy sooner than
sieht, nimmt ? An explanation by analogy is in-
complete as long as it does not show why A fol-
lowed B rather than the reverse ; and while the
reasons are not always known as yet, even a hint
as to what the problem is would be useful to the
student— P. 270, §534. It is not clear what
the author means by saying that in prim. Ger-
manic a strong past participle was formed from
the stem form of the plural of some preterit-pres-
ent verbs ; words like Gothic aiyin n. or OHG.
eigan adj., can hardly be called past participles.
It seems doubtful whether the phrase 'fall
together,' which occurs frequently in the book
(for instance: "in Bavarian e and e fell to-
gether," p. 43) will be correctly understood by
those not familiar with this sense of zusammen-
fallen ; and similarly ' level out ' will probably
puzzle many readers, for instance, in "the fol-
lowing verbs have levelled out the consonant of
the present and of the pret. first and third pers.
singular" (p. 239, § 481), meaning that the
consonant belonging to these forms has been sub-
stituted in the remaining forms of the verb for the
consonant formerly belonging to these. A very
good index adds to the value of the book.
H. C. G. VON JAGEMANN.
Harvard University.
Modern German Prose. A Reader for Advanced
Classes. Compiled and annotated by A. B.
NICHOLS, Professor of German in Simmons
College. New York : Henry Holt & Company,
1908.
This Reader contains a series of short extracts
which have the character of brief essays on a
variety of subjects in the fields of literary criti-
cism and biography, history, ethics, sociology,
and science. They comprise concise and authori-
tative utterances by the most eminent specialists.
Wilmanns, for instance, discusses Vogelweide ;
Ranke, Luther ; Hebbel and ten Brink, Shakes-
peare ; Biedermann, Goethe and Schiller. Grill-
parzer tells of Beethoven, Treitschke of Jahn, and
Schmoller of Henry George. G. Curtius speaks
of Jacob Grimm, and Jacob Grimm of his brother
196
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 6.
Wilhelm. Bulthaupt reviews Minna von Barn-
helm, and Kuno Fischer analyses Faust ; Wag-
ner describes programme music ; and Paulsen,
the German University. There are passages from
Freytag and Nietzsche and Harnack. Mythology
and linguistics are represented by Mogk, Beha-
ghel, and Lyon. Among investigators whose view
on scientific .themes are cited appear Kirchhoff,
Helmholtz, Wundt, and DuBois-Reymoud.
At the beginning of each selection is a reference
to its source, for identification and comparison.
The notes are succinct, covering points of trans-
lation and the miscellaneous allusions in the text.
There is no vocabulary. The preface contains
suggestions for the use of the work.
The classic model for Professor Nichols's com-
pilation is Paszkowski's Lesebuch zur Einfuhrung
in die Kenntnis Deutschlands und seines geistigen
Lebens, first appearing in 1903, with a fourth
edition, with notes added, at the end of 1908.
Among other works of similar utility but of more
limited range, might be mentioned Scho'nf eld's
German Historical Prose and Tombo's Deutsche
Reden.
The compilers of these useful productions de-
serve thanks for their efforts. The student who
has labored faithfully through such selections will
be rewarded by the acquisition of an enlarged
vocabulary, and of an acquaintance with a variety
of characteristic and stimulating literary styles,
and with a rich range of intellectual interests.
Both teacher and student alike would be bene-
fited by the incorporation of such works at some
point in the curriculum. The mastery of the 260
pages of Nichols's Reader would be of more vital
value than the superficial perusal of many volumes
of novels and plays, — a perusal which leaves the
reader incompetent to grapple with the difficulties
of thought and expression so often found in the
writers of lofty and serious German prose.1
H. S. WHITE.
Harvard University.
CORRESPONDENCE.
THE " FOUR DAUGHTERS OF GOD."
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — In the March issue of Modern Language
Notes is a paper on The Four Daughters of God,
'The reader's attention is called to a careful review of
Nichols's Reader by E. C. Roedder, appearing after the
above notice was written , in Monatshtfte fur deutsche Sprache
und Padagogik, Feb., 1909 ; a review which will be of
much value in a revision of the Reader. — H. S. W.
in which regret is expressed for the omission from
that dissertation of ' ' two dramatic versions which
are remarkable alike for their early use of the alle-
gory and for their very early adaptation of the
dramatic form to an allegorical theme — the two
twelfth century Anglo-French moralities by Guil-
laume Herman and (possibly) Stephen Langton.
Both are described by Ward (Hist. o/Eng. Dram.
Lit., i, 25, 105), and by Chambers (The Medieval
Stage n, 152)."
This regret is based upon a very natural misap-
prehension, due to the inaccuracy of Ward's state-
ments which are drawn from Klein's Geschichte
des Dramas (iv, 107—109). while Klein is in turn
dependent upon de la Rue's Essais sur les Bardes
. . . (n, 270-284 ; in, 5-11) for his account of
this version. There are not two versions but one,
though this is found in several manuscripts slightly
differing in form. Nor can this version be re-
garded as a play, for the poem is written in nar-
rative, not dramatic form. I have discussed it in
my dissertation under the title, La Vie de Tobic
(pp. 31-33), and have shown (in a footnote to
p. 32) that its author was neither Guillaume Her-
mann nor Stephen Langton, but the well-known
trouvere, Guillaume le Clerc.
It is true that Ward (i, 25) does speak loosely
of ' ' two religious plays ' ' by Herman and Lang-
ton. But from his description, later on (p. 105),
of the former and of the manuscript in which it
appears, it is clear that he is speaking of the poem
in MS. Arundel 292, formerly known as MS. Nor-
folk 292, which I have included in my account of
the Vie de Tobie. That Ward himself recognized
that he had overstated the case is implied in the
sentence, "The composition attributed to Stephen
Langton treats the same theme with a relative
intensity which, could either of these works be
credited with a dramatic purpose, might be termed
superior force of action " (p. 105).
Chambers, in his account of "two unprinted
and little known French plays," merely echoes
Ward. While admitting that ' ' they are gener-
ally spoken of as literary exercises not intended
for representation," he seeks to justify his men-
tion of them as plays by saying that they might
well find a place in the Miracle-play cycles as did
the similar scene in the Ludue Coventrice of three
hundred years later. The fact remains, however,
that the poem as it stands is not in the for^n of a
drama.
HOPE TRAVER.
Huntinylon Hall, Los Angela.
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES
VOL. XXIV.
BALTIMORE, NOVEMBER, 1909.
No. 7.
THE MEANING OF FEELDES IN
CHAUCER'S KNIGHT'S TALE,
vv. 975-977.
"The rede statue of Mars with spereand targe
So shyneth in his whyte baner large
That alle the feeldes gliteren up and doun."
The correct meaning of feeldes in this passage
has never been set forth with such convincing
proof and clear illustration as to command the
assent of all scholars. The true interpretation is
the literal one — plains. But a competing inter-
pretation— heraldic fields or grounds — enjoys the
authority of Professor Skeat, and, probably for
that reason, has gained considerable favor in
school editions. Probably wishing to avoid the
exaggeration — somewhat violent to modern minds
— that goes with the literal use of the word, Pro-
fessor Skeat explained it as an heraldic term,
"the ground upon which the various charges are
emblazoned" (vol. v, p. 63). In this explana-
tion he is followed by the editors of the Globe
Chaucer and by Mr. A. J. Wyatt.
The more obvious and correct interpretation of
feeldes gliteren up and doun, — "all the country
round about shines with the reflection, ' ' — is made
by Professor Liddell in his note on the word
(Chaucer: The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales,
etc., New York, 1902), though he cites no
parallel for the exaggeration that seems to trouble
Professor Skeat. Substantially the same is true
of Mr. A. Ingraham's note (Geoffrey Chaucer' a
The Prologue to the Tales of Canterbury, etc.,
New York, 1902).
Mr. H. B. Hinckley (Notes on Chaucer, p. 57,
Northampton, Mass., 1907) rejects Skeat' s sug-
gestion and correctly interprets feeldes as plain-s.
He quotes several parallels from Middle Age
writers, French and English, to show that "the
glittering of the country with a splendid army ' '
is a common-place in medieval literature. But
these citations do not meet the difficulty. ' ' The
glittering of the country with a splendid army ' '
may well be a common-place in any literature
that deals with martial themes, but the passage of
Chaucer in question describes the country as
glittering from light reflected from a single ban-
ner. Of the passages cited by Mr. Hinckley,
the one that most resembles the lines in the
Knight's Tale is that from Barbour's Bruce (vnr,
225-228) : L
" Thair basnetis burnyst var al brycht
Agane the sone [glemand] of licht,
Thair speris, thair pennownys, & thar scheldis
Of licht illumynit all the feldis."
Here the effect of a large armed force is described,
and there is no parallel with the exaggeration of
light and color reflected from a single object,
as described by Chaucer. Mr. A. W. Pollard
( Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, The Knight's Tale,
p. 80, London, 1903), also has the correct inter-
pretation of feeldes. He cites as a parallel
Anelida, 40 ff. (Hippolyta) :
al the ground about her char she spradde
With brightnesse of the beautee of her face.
This passage, however, descriptive of the effect of
a lady's beauty, is obviously not susceptible of
literal interpretation, and for that reason hardly
serves to settle the point in question.
That the literal interpretation — all the country
shines with the reflection — is the correct one, is
proved by the following verses of the Perceval of
Chretien de Troies, which describes a similar re-
flection of bright colors from a raised object, upon
the surrounding fields :
" II vit un tref tendu
L£s le soart d'une fontenelle ;
Li tr£s fut biaus 1 grant mervelle :
L'une partie fut vermelle,
1 For the sake of completeness I give Mr. Hinckley's
other citations : Kyntj Alisaunder, 1607-1608 (in Weber,
Metrical Romances, vol. I, p. 70); Chanson de Roland,
3305-3308 ; Guy of Warwick, 2327-2328 (Ed. Zupitza, E.
E. T. S. Ex. Ser. 42) ; Fragment of the Song of Roland,
452-454, E. E. T. S. Ex. Ser. 35) ; Froissart, ed. Baron
Kewyn de Lettenhove, vol. H, p. 55, 11. 17-20.
198
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
Et 1'autre, vert, d'orfrois bandee ;
Desus ot une aigle doree ;
En 1' aigle feroit li solans,
Qui moult estoit clers et vermaus ;
Si reluisoienl twit li pre
Del cnluminement del ire."
(Potvin edition, 1832-1840. )
I do not intend to suggest that Chaucer was a
reader of Chr6tien de Troies, but to show that the
exaggeration of reflected light and color involved
in a literal interpretation of v. 977 of the Knight's
Tale existed in other medieval minds than Chau-
cer's. Doubtless other parallels can be found.1
University of Pittsburgh.
LINCOLN R. GIBBS.
CHORLEY'S CATALOGUE OF COMEDIAS
AND AUTOS OF FREY LOPE FELIX
DE VEGA CARPIO.
II.
Capellan (El) de la Virgen. Written during
the reign of Philip III ; cf. the prophecy, fol.
140. Rouanet, in the Homenaje A Menendez y
Pelayo, i, 62, takes it for granted that the play-
was written after Valdivielso's Auto de la descen-
sion, October, 1616. The matter deserves a more
careful study, more especially as in a question of
inspiration it is more likely that Lope had priority.
Carbonera (La). A late play ; cf. Menendez
y Pelayo, Acad., ix, clxxvi.
Cegries y Sencerrajes. Men^ndez y Pelayo,
Acad. , xi, ix, notes that the play La envidia de
la nobleza, is very much later than 1604 ; it is,
in fact, a very late play.
J Koelbing, in his edition of Seues of Hamtoun, has a
note to vv. 3700-3701 (E. E. T. S., Ex. Ser. 65, pp.
345-6), to which my attention has been called by Pro-
fessor J. M. Manly. Besides several passages not men-
tioned above describing the brilliant effect of a large
army: King of Tars, v. 155 ; Le Morte Arthur, 2370 !
Guy of Warwick, B. 2199 ; Koelbing cites one passage
which exactly confirms my interpretation (Partonope, A.
1918 ff.):
' 'Aboute his nekk heng a sheelde
So bryght of steele that alle the feelde
Was enlymed wyth the bryghtnesse."
Celos (Los) sin ocasion. See El mas galan
portugues.
Cerco (El) de Santa Fe. Later than 1587 ; cf.
Restori, ZRPh., xxx, 221.
Comendadores (Los) de Cordoba. The auto-
graph by Claramonte is quite different from Lope' 8
play ; cf. Mensjndez y Pelayo, Acad., xi, lix.
Restori, ZRPh., xxx, 227, suggests that Lope's
play was composed 1582-87. It is known that
the play was acted by Gabriel Nunez, July, 1593.
Contra valor no hay desdicha ... A very late
play, as may be inferred from the closing lines :
Y aquf dio fin el poeta
Que aim vive para serviros.
It is on record that the comedia was acted in the
Retire, April 6, 1636.
Contienda (La) de Diego Garcia. The copy
made in 1781, formerly in Duran's collection, is
now in the National Library, Madrid. Lope
signed this play February 15, 1600 ; cf. Acad.,
xi, cxxv.
Cuentas (Las) del Gran Capitan. A very late
work ; cf. Acad., xi, cxvi. The first part only is
extant.
De Cosario & Cosario. 1618-21 ; cf. 483
(Rivad.).
Defensa (La) en la verdad. A comparatively
early play, written before the accession of Philip
III. It was acted (for the first time ?) by Ol-
medo, whose career began about 1600. On the
last folio occurs the phrase, For Dios que es Undo
el don Diego (a personage in the play) ; for other
instances see MLN., xx, 41.
Desconfiado (El). Published 1620 (approba-
tion, Sept. 18, 1619). It was probably written
shortly before, as it is not in P2. The manner
and style justify one in assigning it to about the
year 1618. The play was acted by Ortiz.
Despertar & quien duerme. After 1609, as may
be inferred from the attack on Culteranismo
(Rivad., 353). Certain scenes have a close par-
allel in Cervantes' interlude, La eleccion de los
alcaldes.
Desposorio (El) encubierto. Leandro (Act in)
says that twenty years before, his parents lived in
Granada. He was studying, but had to leave, in
consequence of a quarrel. He joined Juan Pa-
checo's company and took part, — like Lope, — in
the expedition against the island of Terceira
November, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
199
(1583). The play was written probably about
1599-1603. It is cited in P.
Despreoio (El) agradecido. Published in Olras
sueltas., x ; I have, also, a suelta, Madrid, 1804.
Dineros son calidad. In El premio del bien
hablar, Lope says :
" Dineros son calidad " como dijo el cordobes Lucano ;
(Rivad., 493.)
Acted 1623 ; cf. El Averiguador, I, 9, or Profes-
sor Rennert's reprint.
Dios haze Reyes . . . Pellicer, i, 161, quotes it,
Dios hizo . . .
Discrete enamorada (La). The captain tells us
(Rivad,, 159) that he was born in 1560, and is
now old. This would bring us to about 1610, at
least. P. 71 there is a reference to La doncella
Teodor, — the play or the chap-book ?
Domine Lucas. An early play, as is noted by
Chorley. It may be of interest to add that Juan
Marti refers to it in 1602 ; cf. Bibliografia de las
controversias sobre la licitud del teatro en Espana,
ed. Cotarelo y Mori, 441.
Donaires (Los) de Matico. There is no gracioso.
The play seems to be an early one, as may be
gathered from the considerable use of terza rima
and the small amount of romance.
Don Juan de Castro. Was this play the source
of El mejor amigo el muerto ? The latter play was
not written about 1610, as Hartzenbusch (Cal-
deron, iv, 661) suggests, but considerably later.
By no stretch of the imagination can the passage
quoted there refer to Queen Marguerite (d. Octo-
ber 3, 1611).
Dos Estrellas trocadas . . . Published 1618,
and written after the expedition to Bidasoa, Oct. ,
1615 ; see, moreover, Professor Rennert's Life of
Lope, p. 226.
Duque de Viseo. At the close the title reads El
gran duque de Viseo.
Ello dird. There is no gracioso.
Embmtes (Los) de Fabia. An old play, as may
be gathered from the subject matter (such as Juan
de la Cueva might have used), the style, and the
versification (redondillas, terza rima and blank
verse at great length, without any romance).
Escolastica (La) celosa. Written after 1590 ;
note the reference to swords of the famous blade-
maker, Francisco Ruiz (fol. 238). W. Boehmer,
in Meister der Wa/ensehmied, 1897, says (p. 183)
that Francisco Ruiz (b. 1560 ?) began to work in
Toledo about 1590. None of the many other
books on Toledo swords are more precise. Lope
refers again to Ruiz in La Serrana de Tormee,
likewise an early play ; see below.
Estrella (La) de Sevilla. A late work, at least
in its present form, as it alludes to Velez de Gue-
vara's Diablo cojuelo — published after Lope's
death, but written, according to Bonilla y San
Martin, 1630-37. The reference in Lope's play
may well be an interpolation.
Exemplo (El) de casadas . . . The use of the
old-fashioned royal octaves, a favorite strophe
with the Juan de la Cueva school, might be noted.
Favor (El) agradecido. This, the earliest dated
play (October, 1593) by Lope, has a gracioso.
There is nothing Spanish about him, however.
The strophic structure of the comedia is old-
fashioned, but more varied than in Juan de la
Cueva' s plays, — romance occurs once. This play
goes far to show that the New or Lopesque
Comedia did not exist in 1593 ; certain elements
were still lacking.
Felisarda. A spectacular production, — written
for & fiesta"! The considerable amount of octaves
is puzzling ; but as in many plays written after
about 1600, or later, all the acts end in romance.
Flores (Las) de don Juan. The references to
certain historical personages (Rivad., 415) ought
to help to determine the date.
Golan (El) escarmentado. Lost, but known as
the source of Dry den's Wild Gallant ; cf. Pitollet,
Le Sikde, November 16, 1906.
Galan (El) Castrucho. Suelta, 1867.
Gallardo (El) Jacobin. But see Restori,
ZRPh., xxx. 217, who believes, with Schack,
that this is an entirely different production from
El Gallardo Jazimin.
Gallarda (La) Toledana. It has a gracioso.
The play was written while the Court was at
Valladolid (cf. fol. 58™ &nd passim). As, more-
over, it is not cited in P., it was probably written
1603-1606.
Genovcs (El) liberal. Published 1614. To
judge from the strophic structure (and other
characteristics) it is considerably older. See El
Tirana castigado, below.
Gloria (La) de San Francisco. It would be
more correct to ask whether the Gloria can be the
second part.
200
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 7.
Gran (El) Dugue de Muscovia. The date
(1606-1616) is discussed in Acad., vi, cxxxiii.
Otizmanes (Los) de Toral. Restori assigns it to
the first years of the seventeenth century ; cf. also,
his remarks, ZRPh., xxx, 227.
Hamate (El) de Toledo. Published 1617, but
not cited in P2. However, the play must have
been composed shortly before the expulsion of
the Moors from Valencia (note Act 11). Madrid
is referred to as the capital, which would fix an
anterior date, 1606. That the play was written
for a sinister purpose is evident from the following
lines :
Noten los que esclavos tienen
desta tragedia el exemplo.
The play is badly constructed, and there is no
dramatic justification for the love episode.
Heehos (Los) de Garcilaso. For arguments
against Menendez y Pelayo's contention that this
is Lope's earliest play that has been preserved,
see Restori, ZRPh., xxx, 219.
Hermosa Fea (La). May this have been the
source of the lost English play, The Foul Fair
one, 1623?
Hermosura (La) aborrecida. H., n, 95.
Hombre (El) de bien. Francisco Cornelia's
play with the same title is different.
Hombre (El) por su palabra. At least later
than 1592, as " el doctissimo Mariana" is men-
tioned among historians (fol. 172""')- Luzinda ap-
pears as a character.1
Ilustre (La) Fregona. . . . Castillo Solorzano
makes the following reference to the play in Las
Harpias en Madrid, Barcelona, 1633 (licensed
1632) :
"La comedia que con el se haze es del Fenix del Orbe
Lope de Vega Carpio, intitulada Ilustre Fregona, y es
tal, que durara algunos dias, con lo bien que representa
aquel papel la mayor comica que aora se conoce que es
Amarilia." (fol. 50™-)-J
Infanzon (El) de Illescas. But note Acad., ix,
cxlii !!
Ingratitud (La) vengada. Cervantes cited this
work as a regular play in Don Quixote, i, Chap.
XLVIII. It was acted, moreover, by Osorio, el
1 Do all plays in which Luzinda appears belong to the
Luzinda period ?
2 Now accessible in a reprint.
autor antiguo, and may well go back to the years
1588-92.
Ingrato (El) arrepentido. Tancredo is a gra-
cioso.
Inocente (La) Sangre. Published 1624. This
may be an old play, but it must have been re-
touched as there is a reference to Villamediana' s
play La Gloria de Niquea, played April 8 (some
say 15), 1622 ; noted by Hartzenbusch, p. 352c.
Isla (La) Barbara. Chorley insisted that this
play belongs to Lope ; cf. his suelta in Brit. Mus.
Jardin (El) de Falerina. P. In Los peligros
de la ausencia (Rivad., 407) we read :
Vine de Madrid, pos6
En una casa vecina
Al jardin de Falerina,
Que mas encantada f \i6, . . .
Los peligros de la ausencia was composed before
Calderon began to write (see below).
Jorge Toledano. Written 1595-7. Lope tells
us that the part of the gallant was played by
Salano, and that the comedia was performed by
Porras (Porres). Salano was attached to Porras'
company 1595-7. This date is confirmed by the
strophic structure, — an increasing amount of
romance, with considerable terza rima, blank
verse and one octave.
Juez (El) de su misma causa. See next title.
Juez (El) en su causa. So in xxv ; but at the
close of the play and in Parte veynte y echo de
comedias de varios autores, 1634, El Juez de su
causa. It was played by Avendano (Lope?). To
judge from the verse, it could not have been writ-
ten long before 1600.
Jueces (Los) de Castilla. Menlndez y Pelayo
reprints Moreto's play (Acad., vn), believing it
to be an adaptation of Lope's, which is lost.
Laura persequida. Played by Porras : cf. Jorge
Toledano, above.
Leal (El) criado. Julio is a gracioso.
Limpieza (La) no manchada. Written for a
celebration held October 29, 1618 ; cf. Acad., v,
xlvii.
Llave de la honra. A late play, carefully con-
structed ; Calderonian.
Locos (Los) de Valencia. Written, of course,
after Lope's first visit to Valencia, 1588 ! That
he had been impressed by the Insane Asylum
there — and what sixteenth and seventeenth cen-
November, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
201
tury authors were not interested in studies of in-
sanity?— is evidenced again in El Peregrino,
Libro tercero.
One could wish to have more definite informa-
tion about Carranza, alluded top. 15 (ed. Eivad. )
than is given in Walberg's notes to Juan de la
Cueva's Exemplar poetico, p. 100. Lope men-
tions him again in El amigo hasta la muerte, p.
344b ; cf., also, Tirso, i, 146, vi, 174, Cervantes,
El Teatro, ed. clas., in, 215. See Monreal,
Ouadros viejos, 135.
P. 119 occurs the phrase La bella malmaridada,
which may or may not be a reference to the play
of this title.
Lo que ha de ser. Suelta, Madrid, 1804. Writ-
ten probably not long before 1624.
Lo que hay que fiar del mundo. A tragedy,
although called a comedia at the close. There is
a kind of gracioso.
Lo que paaa en una iarde. Now accessible in
Petrofs edition, 1906.
Marido (El) masfirme. Written not long before
1630 ; cf. Acad., vi, Ixiv.
Marques (El) de las Navas. Aead., xin.
Marques (El) de Mantua. Acad., xin.
Martires (Los) del Japan. After 1617 ; cf. Res-
tori, ZRPh., xxii, 292.
Mas galan portugues (El). Probably the Celos
sin ocasion of P ; cf. Eestori, ZRPh. , xxix, 365.
Mas pueden celos que amor. Written after the
.Franco-Spanish marriages, 1615 ; cf. p. 178, ed.
Rivad.
Mayor (La) desgracia de Carlos V. After
1625 ; cf. Acad., xn, Ivi.
Mayor (La) virtud de un rey. A late play,
according to the closing lines :
Aquf, Senado,
Con mis fortunas acaba
La mayor virtud de un rey.
El poeta no se cansa
De serviros, aunque ya
Le jubilaban las canas . . .
Compare the close of Contra valor no hay des-
dicha :
Y aquf dio fin el poeta,
Que aun vive para serviros.
Medico (El) de su honra. Written about 1621-
23 ; cf. Restori, ZRPh., xxvin, 255-6.
Mejor (El) alcalde el rey. A late play ; cf.
Acad., vin, liv. See, also, Professor Rennert's
Notes on the chronology, . . .
Mejor (El) mozo de Espana. Only the first part
is known. Written about 1611 ; cf. Restori,
ZRPh., xxix, 364.
Milagro (El) por los celos y don Alva.ro de Luna.
Referred to, by its sub-title, in La moza de can-
taro, p. 560 (Rivad.), which latter play was
written about 1625-6 (see below).
Milagros (Los) del desprecio. See, also, Stiefel,
ZRPh., xv, 220.
Mocedad (La) de Roldan. Not before 1596 ;
cf. Acad., xni, Ixivff.
Moza (La) de cantaro. The date can be deter-
mined more closely by the reference on page 556
(ed. Rivad.), as 1625-6 (other allusions abound).
The parallel sonnet in the Corona Trdgica (1627)
is likewise noted by Hartzenbusch.
Nacimiento (El) del Alua. Stiefel thinks this
is El Nacimiento cited in P. ; cf. ZRPh., xv, 223.
Noche (La) toledana. Written 1605, as refer-
ence is made (p. 208, Rivad.) to the birth of
Philip IV, April 8, 1605. The play is often
alluded to by contemporaries ; e. g., in El Caba-
llero de Olmedo, ed. Schaeffer, 329 ; Tirso, Desde
Toledo & Madrid, Act in, Sc. n, etc.
Diaz de Escovar, in Apuntes escenicos cervan-
tinos, repeats some stuff and nonsense from Castro
about the date of this play, and deductions based
thereon.
Nueva (La) victoria del Marques de Santa Cruz.
Acad., xin ; about 1604.
Obras son amores. The close is interesting :
Y yo en nombre de Velardo
os prometo seys [comedias] tan bellas,
como lo dira la Pasqua,
si aqui estamos la Quaresma.
Restori detects an allusion to this play in Juan
de Caxes' Los trabajos de Joseph, ed. 1902, p. 19 ;
the date of Lope's play would then be 1604-9.
It is very doubtful whether such a casual expres-
sion as " obras y amor juntas veo " can allude to
Lope's comedia. Restori notes that there is an
auto with the same title. Barrera (p. 570) quotes
a play by Carvallo de Figuereido, Obras son amores,
y no buenas razones. The expression was pro-
verbial.
Oeasion (La) perdida. Published 1609, and
202
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, JVb. 7.
alluded to, some years later, by Tirso in Quien
calla, otorga :
La culpa tiene tu fama ;
que el Castigo del penseque
y Ocasion perdida, pasa
de boca en boca en la corte . ,
(V. 262.)
Octavo, (.La) maravilla. Published 1618. This
play contains . considerable praise of El Escurial.
On fol. 153 we are informed that it was thirty-
eight years in the building. As work was begun
1563, the remark must have been made after
1601 ; but the court is at Madrid (163™-)» »• e->
after 1606. The posterior date is determined by
a reference (170) to Queen Marguerite, possible
only before 1611 when she died. Other allusions
abound in this extravaganza.
Padrino (El) desposado. Cited in P. It was
written after 1598, as may be gathered from a
prophecy in which allusion is made to Philip III
(fol. 339).
Palados (Los) de Galiana. Acad., xni.
Pastoral (El) albergue. Doubtful; cf. Acad.,
XIII.
Pastoral (La) de Jacinto. First (?) play that
Lope wrote in three acts, and, therefore very
early ; cf. Acad., v, lix.
Peligros (Los) de laAusencia. Refers (p. 407,
Rivad.) to the play (?) El Jardin de Falerina,3
written before 1603. The attacks on culteranismo
(p. 420 and passim) show that the comedia was
written considerably after 1609. On p. 421 occurs
a significant passage :
Porque de falsos hay tantos
Que no estd, seguro nn hombre,
Auuque tenga 6rdenes sacros.
This would apply to Lope only about 1608 and
after. In corroboration of the opinion that this is
a personal reference, attention may be called to
the considerable number of passages in this play
which seem directed against the dramatist's enemies
and detractors, e. g. :
Dichoso el lisongero 6 raaldiciente
Coronista de vicios de sefiores,
Que no le cuesta nada aquella prosa
Mas helada que nieve Galatea. (P. 416 ).
PeribaKez y elcomendador de OcaHa. Menendez
8 For this garden, cf. Schmidt, Die Schauspiele Calderon's,
292-6. Calderon's play of the same title is much later.
y Pelayo observes that this play was written 1609-
1613 (I have put back the posterior date by one
year because the volume in which the play ap-
peared was licensed 1613); Acad., x, Ix and ed.
Rivad., 296".
Perseo (El) ; La Fabula de Perseo, etc. Is this
the play alluded to by Cervantes, Obras, u, 283 ?
The letter in which the allusion occurs was written
1606, and is ascribed to Cervantes.
Piadoso (El) Veneciano. No graeioso.
Piedad (La) ejeeutada. Lope tells us that he
was induced "a inquirir entre mis escritos, caudal
de la pobreza de un ingenio, algun papel de los
que en mi juventud salieron con algun aplauso en
este genero . . . ." The strophic structure like-
wise indicates that this is an early play. It is
not cited in P. ; but it is, doubtless, the same play
as Los Pimenteles y Quinones there cited. Don
Fernando de Quinones and Don Juan Pimentel
are the chief personnages.
Pobreza no es vileza. Had Chorley never read
the dedication of La pobreza estimada (cited in P.)
and its attack on culteranismo ? It is a late produc-
tion; cf. Acad., xii, cxlv. Acted July 29, 1626,
(for first time?).
Pobrezas (Las) de Beynaldos. 1597-8 ; cf.
Acad., xni, Ixxxiii.
Poder (El) vencido y amor premiado. Published
1618. It contains the following reference to Guil-
len de Castro :
Oriado.
Aurii comedia ?
Fabricio.
Tambien.
Criado.
Vna compuso Guillen,
mas es para los oydos,
no tiene para los ojos.
Fabricio.
Los ojos sentidos son,
y darles gusto es razon.
Criado.
Muchos reciben enojos
desto de tramoyas y vigas. (Fol. 273"0-).
It is obvious that this was written during the
second decade of the century when there was a
marked development in the use of stage-ma-
chinery. The play, moreover, makes an extrava-
gant use of disguises.
Ponces (Los) de Barcelona. Acad., ix.
Por la puente, Juana. A late play ; note, for
November, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
203
nstance, the type of gracioso, as, also, the attack
on Gongorism (p. 543, ed. Rivad. ).
Porfia (La) hasta el temor. A late play (third
or fourth decade of the century) as it was per-
formed by Roque de Figueroa.
Porfiando vence amor. H., in, 237.
Porfiar hasta morir. A very late play; cf.
Acad., x, xxxix, and Restori, ZRPh., xxix,
358. The title was proverbial, and is often met
with in seventeenth century literature.
Portugueses (La) y dicha del forastero. Cited in
P2. It refers (passim) to the royal marriages,
October, 1615, as to a recent event.
Prados (Las') de Leon. H., iv, 434.
Premio (El) del bien hablar. The jibe at cultos
(p. 503, ed. Rivad.) sets an anterior date (1609);
the play is not cited in P2. Played shortly before
Nov. 18, 1625; cf. El Averiguador, i, 10.
Premio (El) de la hermosura. Written for a
celebration in the LermaPark, Novembers, 1614;
cf. Acad., vi, ix.
Primero (El) Medicis. Not lost, cf. Restori,
ZRPh., xxm, 454.
Principe (El) perfeto. A third part was prom-
ised. Restori maintains that the autograph is of
the year 1616, ZRPh., xxix, 365.
Prision (La) sin culpa. Tristan is a gracioso.
As Madrid is referred to as the capital, the play
was apparently written before 1601.
Querer la propia desdicha. Hartzenbusch (p.
270n. ) says this play was written after 1609.
Reina (La) Juana de Napoles. There is an
old manuscript in the National Library, Naples ;
cf. Restori, ZRPh., xxm, 453.
Rey (El) sin Reino. There is a gracioso.
Before 1630 ; see Morel-Fatio, Etudes, in, 181.
Rustico (El) del cielo. Written about 1599 ;
cf. Men6ndez y Pelayo, Acad. , v, xxxiv.
San Adrian y Santa Natalia. Note Restori,
ZRPh., xxn, 294.
Santo Tomas de Aquino. Note Restori, ibid.
Selva (La) sin amor. 1629 ; cf. Acad., v,
Ixxix.
Serrana (La) de Tormes. An early play, but
not necessarily retouched. The reference to a
Francisco Ruiz blade (cf. La escolastica celosa,
above) shows that it was composed after 1590.
Servir a seilor discreto. P*. The expulsion of
the Moors (1609-10) is alluded to (p. 72, ed.
Rivad.).
Si no vieran las mugeres! A late play (acted
May 1, 1633) as may be inferred from the fol-
lowing lines :
Emperador.
I Aun viven Belardos?
Selardo.
I No babels visto un iirbol viejo,
Cuyo tronco, aunque arrugado,
Coronan verdes renuevos?
Pues eso habeas de pensar,
Y que pasando los tiempos,
Yo me sucedo & ml mismo. Kivad., 579.*
Soldado (El) amante. No gracioso. It seems
to be an early work, as it was played by ' ' Osorio,
autor antiguo y famoso ' ' • but in the Peregrino (ed.
Obras sueltas, p. 462) we are told that Alcaraz
performed it. Professor Rennert says, in Actors
and Actresses, (p. 91): "He was an actor in the
company of Osorio (Rodrigo ? 5) in July, 1594,
but had a company as early as 1596."
Tercera (La) orden de' san Francisco. Lope
wrote the first act and part of the third ; the rest
was the work of Montalvan. It was played by
Roque de Figueroa and Arias ; the latter was in
the former's company 1631, which may very well
be the date of the play.
Testigo (El) contra si. Published 1615 (appro-
bation 1614). Reference is made (fol. 230»°-)
to "Sancho y su rocin" ; later (fol. 234) Val-
ladolid is alluded to as the seat of the Consejo
Real. The play was, therefore, composed 1603-
4-6, or, more probably, 1605-6.
Testimonio (El) vengado. The presence of an
allegorical personage (Aragon) indicates that
this is an early production. The rule is not in-
fallible.
Tirana (El) castigado. Do the following lines
refer to the play El Genoves liberal?
Soy Ginoues liberal,
hombre noble y principal
y de quien fiarte puedes. (Fol. 217<|o-).
Traicion (La) bien acertada. The strophic
structure (e. g. royal octaves) is old-fashioned.
The Philip referred to (fol. 139) is undoubtedly
Philip II (d. 1598).
Tres (Los) diamantes. Acad., xm. Crispin is
a gracioso, and enters ' ' de graciosidad. ' '
* A somewhat similar reference is made to the author's
age in Penbanez (1609-14).
6 The interrogation mark ought to be deleted.
204
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 7.
Vandos (Los) de Sena. A late play.
Vargas (Los) de Castilla. Written about 1604 ;
c/. MenSndez y Pelayo, Acad., x, cvii ; but note,
also, Restori, ZRPh., xxix, 364.
Vellocino (El*) de oro. Written for a celebra-
tion, May 15, 1622 ; c/. Acad., vi, Hi. This play
is, therefore, different from El Bellocino dorado,
played 1590 ; c/. P4rez Pastor, Nuevos datos, . . .
p. 27.
Venganza (La) venturosa. Published 1618
(approbation 1617). As it was written in the
seventeenth century, it may be noted that Madrid
is referred to as the capital (i. e. after 1606).
The relation of this play to Guillen de Castro's
Las mocedades del Old ought to be determined.
Ventura (La) sin buscalla. Concetos are satir-
ized.
Ventura (La) de la Fea. Chorley's copy is
more probably a suelta of the last decades of the
seventeenth century; of. MLN., 1905, 39n.
Restori, in Piezas de titulos de comedias (p. 134)
gives reasons for attributing the play to Mira de
Amescua.
Vida (La) de San Pedro Nolasco. Written
after 1621 ; cf. Acad., v, ix.
Vida (La) y muerte de Santa Teresa. For an
autograph (fragment), see Restori, ZRPh., xxn,
283.
Villana (La) de Getafe. Published 1620 (ap-
probation 1619). Written after the expulsion of
the Moors (1609-10); cf. fol. 45.
Virtud, pobreza, y muger. Cited 1618 ; refers
to the expulsion of the Moors (p. 220, etc., ed.
Rivad.).
Viuda, casada y doncella. Published 1617
(approbation 1616). It refers (fol. 198) to Osu-
na's departure for Naples, 1616.
Viuda (La) valenciana. P. There are allusions
(p. 74, ed. Rivad.) to contemporary writers, but
they serve only to indicate that the play was com-
posed after 1591. Professor Rennert (p. 263)
tells us that it was written about 1619 !
Zelos (Los) de Rodamonte. Acad., xin.
MILTON A. BUCHANAN.
University of Toronto.
JOHN CHURTON COLLINS— A REVIEW.
The death of Professor John Churton Collins of
the University of Birmingham, England, on Sep-
tember the fifteenth 1908, under circumstances
somewhat obscure, ended the career of one who
had been very prominent in the literary and edu-
cational world for the last twenty years. He
was a man of temperamental peculiarities, and his
death is lamented by many special admirers. His
prominence and the ideas for which he stood make
a review of his life and work pertinent at this
time.
John Churton Collins, son of Henry Ramsay
Collins, a surgeon, was born at Bourton-on-the-
Water in Gloucestershire, OH the twenty-sixth of
March, 1848. After spending some time in King
Edward's School, Birmingham, he was sent to
Balliol College, Oxford, where he matriculated
in 1868. The student of Collins' later career
looks with a good deal of satisfaction upon this
fact of his entrance at Balliol, for he thinks he
finds in it explanations of some of Collins' subse-
quent ideas. For Balliol College from 1865 on
was the leading college in Oxford, and in Balliol,
Benjamin Jowett, who was elected Master midway
in Collins' course, was the leading spirit. Most
of the popularizing tendencies in late nineteenth
century English education either had their rise at
Balliol, or were most warmly supported there.
Public libraries, university extension, the opening
of Oxford examinations to non-resident English-
men, the reduction of the expense of an university
course, all occupied much time in the discussions
of the Balliol Common-room. And it is in these
topics that we find Collins greatly interested later
on, as the titles of his magazine articles show.
" As Professor of Greek, Jowett felt that the
language and literature of Greece were a trust
committed to his care. He desired above all
things to see the study of Greek placed on what
he thought a sound basis, and pursued in a man-
ner likely to produce good fruit. He thought that
little could be done in elucidating difficult passages
in Greek authors ; in spite of all the ingenuity
which had been brought to bear on them, the in-
terpretation was still uncertain. He often spoke
of Greek as the most difficult language in the
November, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
205
world, not because our texts were corrupt, but
owing to the subtelty of the thought and the
unfamiliar associations of words. The attempt to
remove such difficulties by ' emendation ' was to
him intolerable ; and his aversion to this ' curse
of Greek scholarship ' increased with years. He
would have nothing to do with such novae, tabula.
The best hope of a commentator lay in a careful
study of the author, of his use and combination of
words ; and for this reason Jowett wished to see
each of the great Greek authors provided with a
special grammar and lexicon.
' ' But scholarship in the stricter sense of the
word was only a part of Jowett's Greek studies,
and by no means the most important part. He
wished to see Greek ideas in contact with modern,
and it was with this view that he insisted so
strongly on the value of translations. That much
is lost in translating from one language to another,
he would readily have confessed ; no one knew
better than he that English words have not the
same associations as Greek, and cannot be ar-
ranged in the same order. Yet a translation is
still the best means of introducing the Greek
author to the English reader ; and if we wish to
know what the Greeks really thought, it is better
to read what they wrote, than what has been
written about them. ' ' *
Collins speaks several times of Jowett in his
writings and always with the greatest respect. In
this connection there is extant an interesting letter
from Jowett to Collins when the latter was on the
eve of entering upon his long controversy about
the teaching of English at Oxford, which I shall
quote later.
But I am anticipating. I cannot find by refer-
ence to Oxford records that Collins was remarked
in College as proficient in any one study. He
took no honors and appears in the class list of the
examiners in history and jurisprudence as of
second rank. From the date of his graduation in
1872 to 1904, Collins was a successful university
extension lecturer and writer for the reviews. In
1904 he became Professor of English Literature
in the University of Birmingham.
Beginning in 1874, he published seventeen vol-
'See Life and Letters of Benjamin Jowett, ed., Evelyn
Abbott and Lewis Campbell, Vol. 2, p. 413.
umes, most of them made up of articles reprinted
from the magazines. These books may be roughly
classified as follows :
1. Editions of English authors. This group
includes : The Plays and Poems of Cyril Tourneur,
1878 ; The Poems of Lord Herbert of Cderbury,
1881 ; The Satires of Dryden, 1893 ; A Treasury
of Minor British Poetry, 1896 ; The Plays and
Poems of Robert Greene, 1899 ; The Early Poems
of Tennyson, 1900 ; Samson Agonistes, 1902 ; An
English Garner, New Ed., Vol. i, Critical and
Literary Fragments, with an Introduction, 1903-4;
The Utopia, 1904 ; and Merope, sometime after
1905 ; I was unable to get the exact date. Of
these I have seen all except the Greene, the
Samson Agonittes, and the Merope, but I shall not
dwell on them. They are commendable for the
soundness of their text-criticism, and for their
insistence on the idea that accurate comparison of
variant readings is a good training in taste and
scholarship. The annotation in general is meager.
2. Critical essays, biographical, historical, ex-
pository. Here would fall: Sir Joshua Reynolds
as a Portrait Painter, 1874 ; Bolingbroke and
Voltaire in England, 1886 ; Dean Swift, a
Biographical and Critical Study, 1893 ; Essays
and Studies, 1895 ; some of the Studies in Shakes-
peare, 1904 ; and Studies in Poetry and Criticism,
1905. The Sir Joshua Reynolds as a Portrait
Painter I have not seen, but have examined the
rest, and of them all I should say that an essay
on Theobald in Essays and Studies and one on
The True Function of Poetry in his last volume
are the most significant. That on Theobald is a
kind of essay very much needed in English work,
for it gives the state of Shakespearian criticism
before Theobald and then shows what advances he
made. If for every scholar of first rank in every
department of English scholarship we had such
essays, we should have reason to congratulate our-
selves. The discussion of The True Function of
Poetry is a plea for a more serious consideration
of the real place of poetry in civilized life. The
poet should be more than 'the idle singer of an
empty day ' ; restore him to the position he held
among the ancient Greeks. As Lessing said,
" 'Besseren sollen uns alle Gattungen der Poesie :
es ist klaglich, wenn man dieses erst beweisen
206
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
Vol. xxiv, No. 7.
muss ; noch klaglicher 1st es wenn es Dichter giebt
die selbst darum zweifeln.' '
3. Essays in practical criticism : that is to say,
essays on the study and teaching of literature.
In this section I should place : The Teaching oj
English Literature, 1891 ; Illustrations of Tenny-
son, 1891 ; Ephemera Critica,' 1901 ; and some of
the articles in Studies in Shakespeare, 1904 ; be-
sides many magazine articles and some of the
prefaces to his books. This I consider the most
important part of Collins' work, and the re-
mainder of this paper will be devoted to it.
The most prominent characteristic of these
writings is an outspoken dissatisfaction with mod-
ern results and methods in criticism, which fre-
quently reminds one of the attitude assumed by
the quarterly reviewers of the early nineteenth
century toward contemporary literature. This
trait comes out as early as 1878, when in the in-
troduction to The Plays and Poems of Oyril
Tourneur, Collins writes, " That Shakespeare was
but the sun of a mighty system, and had neces-
sarily eclipsed in his meridian splendor the glories
of his satellites, was idly conjectured by the
acutest critic of the eighteenth century, and has
been exactly verified by the conscientious industry
of our own. The unerring taste and nice discern-
ment of a Lamb, the searching and comprehensive
criticism of Coleridge, the impetuous enthusiasm
and analytical subtlety of Hazlitt were fortunately
directed to the noble task of remembering their
forgotten countrymen, of recognizing and resus-
citating buried merit, and of doing justice where
justice had been so long and so shamefully de-
ferred. When such illustrious leaders undertake
and consecrate a cause, they are not likely to want
followers ; though it too often happens that the
follower succeeds to the cheap heritage of the
enthusiasm without succeeding to any share in the
discernment of his master. The keen and cul-
tured discrimination of a Lamb can sift the treas-
ure it discovers ; but to the omnivorous voracity of
the Dibdens and the Shakespeare societies indi-
rectly called into being by him, all is equally
acceptable and all equally valuable. Criticism
dies, and Bibliography, its bastard child, is born ;
fruitful investigation ends, and a barren mania
1 This has gone through four editions.
begins."3 A similar accusation is made in an
article reviewing Symonds' The Predecessors of
Shakespeare (1884), afterwards republished in
Essays and Studies (1895), and Mr. Swinburne
is named as the founder and leader of this school
of critics. ' ' *
The same charge is repeated so often in Ephe-
mera Critica as to become wearisome ; but the
fact that the pieces gathered in that book were
written at intervals of years should mitigate our
feeling to some extent. I shall quote part of a
typical paragraf from The Present Functions of
Criticism : "... Criticism is to Literature what
legislation and government are to States. If they
are in able and honest hands all goes well ; if they
are in weak and dishonest hands all is anarchy
and mischief. And as government in a Republic,
the true analogy to the sphere of which we are
speaking, is represented not by those who form
the minority in its councils, but by those who form
the majority, so in criticism, it is not on the few,
but on the many among those who represent it,
that its authority and influence depend. And
what are its characteristics in the hands of its
prevailing majority, in the hands of those who are
its legislators in a realm co-extensive with the
reading world ? It is not criticism at all. To
criticism, in the true sense of the term, it has no
claim even to approximation. It seems to have
resolved itself into something which wants a
name, — something which is partly dithyramb
and partly rhetoric. Without standards, without
touchstones, without principles, without knowl-
edge, it appears to be regarded as the one calling
for which no equipment and no training are
needed. What a master of the art has called the
final fruit of careful discipline and of much ex-
perience is assumed to come spontaneously. A
man of literary tastes is born cultured. A critic,
like a poet, is the pure product of nature. Such
canons as these ' critics ' have are the mysterious
and somewhat perplexing evolution of their own
inner consciousness, or derived, not from the study
of classical writers in English or in any other lan-
guage, of all of whom they are profoundly ignor-
ant, but from a current acquaintance with the
» P. xi.
4 See pp. 97 and 100.
November, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
207
writings of contemporaries, who are, in intelli-
gence and performance, a little in advance of
themselves. But what they lack in attainments
they make up in impudence. The eifrontery 01
some of these ' critics ' whose verdicts, ludicrous
to relate, are daily recorded as 'opinions of the
Press,' literally exceeds belief. They will sit in
judgment on books written in languages of whose
very alphabets they are ignorant. They will pose
as authorities and pronounce ex cathedra on sub-
jects literary, historical, and scientific of which
they know nothing more than what they have
contrived to pick up from the works which they
are 'reviewing.' Their estimates of the books, on
the merits and demerits of which they undertake
to enlighten the public, correspond with their
qualifications for forming them. Books displaying
in their writers the grossest ignorance of the very
rudiments of the subjects treated, and literally
swarming with blunders and absurdities, all of
which pass undetected and unnoticed, are made
the subjects of elaborate panegyrics, which would
need some qualifications if applied to the very
classics in the subjects under discussion. Books,
on the other hand, of unusual and distinguished
merit are dismissed summarily in a few lines of
equally undeserved depreciation ; books written
in the worst taste and in the vilest style are pro-
nounced to be models of both. Sobriety, measure,
and discrimination have no place either in the
creed or in the practice of these writers. They
think in superlatives ; they express themselves in
superlatives. It never seems to occur to them that
if criticism has to reckon with Mr. Le Galliene it
has also to reckon with Shakespeare ; that if it has
to take the measure of Mr. Hall Caine, it has
likewise to take the measure of Cervantes and
Fielding, and that of some dozen prose writers
and poets, it cannot be pronounced, at the same
time of each, that he is 'the greatest living
master of English prose, ' or ' without parallel for
his superlative command of all the resources of
rhythmical expression.' There is one accomplish-
ment in which these critics are particularly adroit,
and that is in keeping out of controversy, and so
avoiding all chance of being called to account.
For this reason they deal more in eulogy than in
censure, for the public is less likely to complain
of a bad book being foisted on them for a good
one, than its irate author to sit silent under
reproof."5
Modern criticism is thus charged with being
exaggerated in style and insane in judgment.
It is interesting in this connection to note that
Collins has very few reviews among his works of
living poets, dramatists, or novelists ; but that,
when he does write on that sort of subject, his own
style is frequently touched with these degenerate
qualities. As an example, I should mention the
appreciation of Mr. Stephen Phillips' poetry in
Ephemera Oritica.*
What is the cause of this sad state of affairs
in modern criticism ? would be a logical question
to ask Collins at this juncture. But he has antici-
pated us and is ready with his answer. "The
cause, ' ' he replies, "is to be found in the way in
which English Literature has been treated at the
universities. For a long time neglected altogether
and now taught in an exceedingly senseless man-
ner." If we press him to tell us just how present
methods of teaching English are senseless, he
would respond, "In two ways, first, in over-
emphasizing language study at the expense of
literature, and, secondly, in not teaching English
in its relation to Greek and Latin classical litera-
ture and to the literatures of Italy, France, and
Germany. ' '
Collins' writings on this subject cover the whole
period of agitation and struggle over the introduc-
tion of Modern Literature into Oxford, beginning
with the letter from Jowett, referred to before,
and coming down to 1900. His most extended
treatment of the subject is The Study of English
lAterature (1891), but the various chapters of the
book had most of them appeared in magazines
three or four years before. The book is a cam-
paign document at once destructive and con-
structive, and has two main theses : first, that
English deserves to be taught as literature, not as
language ; second, that English can be studied
only in relation to classical and foreign literature.
The former is set forth with argument and the
quotation of opinions from leading Englishmen,
and the latter is illustrated by a somewhat de-
tailed examination of the indebtedness of particu-
5 See Ephemera Oritica, 4th ed., pp. 26-28.
6 P. 294 aeq.
208
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 7.
lar books in English literature to foreign sources,
and by a comprehensive course of study, arranged
according to Collins' idea of what an ideal course
would be. In the doctrine and structure of the
book the influence of Jowett is to me quite patent.
Collins had evidently written to Jowett for advice
as to the conduct of his campaign, and the follow-
ing is the reply :
November 29, 1886.
We have had a meeting of our Committee of Council
about the final School of Modern Language and Litera-
ture. I am not at liberty to tell you the precise conclu-
sions at which we arrived uutil they have been voted
upon by Council. But I think that we shall probably
maintain the claims of literature to be equal with those
of language ; and the inseparability of ancient and modern
literature.
I think that of the plans which you mention by far the
best is the article in the Quarterly, which will be in plenty
of time to influence the question if it appears in the
January number. . . .
Your article might touch (1 ) on the importance to the
study of Classical Literature of its association with mod-
ern, because that gives a new interest to it. It is getting
in some respects worn out, and that would breathe a new
life into it. (2) On the necessity of the knowledge of the
classics for the intelligent study of modern literature— far
greater clearly than the study of the early stages of Eng-
lish literature, even of Chaucer, with that view.7
The University was compelled to yield to the
popular demand for the inclusion of English in
its curriculum, and established the new Merton
chair of English Language and Literature. There
was a considerable struggle over the incumbent ;
but A. S. Napier was finally elected. This meant
defeat to Collins, for Mr. Napier is a philologist,
and the controversy was by no means over. Col-
lins continued his writing and probably the best
summary of the whole matter is to be found in the
first essay on English Literature at the Universities
in Ephemera Critica, which consists of censure of
the English course to be followed at Oxford and a
critical examination of its provisions.
Any sound judgment of Collins' strictures on
the regulations for the Honor School in Literature
should, naturally, be based on a study of the
actual requirements of the school. Perhaps the
most tangible test of those requirements is to be
found in the papers set for the examination of
candidates for degrees. I find that incidental
7 See Abbott and Campbell, op. til., vol. n, p. 314.
provision is made for most of the subjects de-
manded by Collins ; but that, as he says, instruc-
tion in the classics and in the theory of criticism is
omitted. To leave the comparative study of Eng-
lish elective is, in Collins' view, to omit it.
In conclusion, I should say that, as a critic,
Collins stands for two things, the first of which is
the possession of convictions and principles relating
to the judgment of literature, coupled with free
and forcible expression of the same. Except per-
haps in the case of living writers, he never ven-
tures an opinion off-hand ; his decisions are backed
by wide and reflective reading. He impresses me
not as a critic by inspiration, but one by training.
Secondly, Collins stands for the continuity of
literature. Homer is as much our heritage as he
was the early possession of the contemporaries of
Pisistratus. But literature, to Collins, has an
esoteric significance ; it means the critical tradition
from Plato and Aristotle down to our own day.
As the latest product of this tradition, the modern
critic is to understand and speak ' ' the best that
has been known and thought in the world,"
freely, sincerely, and as a duty.
ALLEN R. BENHAM.
The University of Washington.
CONCERNING THE TELL SOLILOQUY.
In his article entitled Zu Tells Monolog {Mod-
ern Language Notes, November, 1908) Prof.
Charles H. Handschin points out what he con-
siders to be a series of related resemblances
between the monologue situation in Schiller's
Wilhelm Tell (act 4, scene 3) and that of "Wall-
rad von Sponheim, in Maler Muller's Golo und
Genoveva (act 2, scene 5). After carefully read-
ing Handschin' s presentation of his case, I feel
compelled to take issue with him. It seems to
me that the relations existing between Schiller's
Tell and the older ' Tell ' stories should, from the
nature of the case, take precedence over such
necessarily problematical parallelisms as Hand-
schin points out. This is all the more true in the
present case, since, as Handschin himself admits,
November, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
209
Schiller probably never read Miiller's Golo und
Genoveva.
First of all, as to the mere occurrence of a
monologue in both Miiller and Schiller — a coinci-
dence which Handschin seizes upon for his pur-
pose. A monologue, in some cases partaking
somewhat of the nature of a prayer, occurs
also in several older ' Tell ' dramas, notably in
Jakob Ruef's Ein hupsch und lustig Spy I . . .
von dem . . . Wilhelm Thellen (Zurich, 1545)
as found in ' Schweizerische Schauspiele des sech-
zehnten Jahrhunderts. Bearbeitet . . . unter Lei-
tung von Jakob Bachtold ' (Zurich, 1893, pp.
103-4). This drama, I might say in passing,
was itself based on the old ' Urner Spiel ' Ein
hupsch Spyl gehalten zuoVry in der Eydgnoschafft,
von dem frommen vnd ersten Eydgnossen, Wilhelm
Thell etc. (Zurich). It seems practically certain
that Schiller saw a copy of the 'Urner Spiel' in
the AVeimar library. Moreover, Ruef's version,
according to Gustav Roethe, was listed in vol. 5 of
Haller's 'Bibliothek der Schweizergeschichte ' —
a book which Schiller is known to have consulted.
Though the parallelisms between Schiller's Tell und
these two older ' Tell ' dramas are many, and some
of them are, indeed, most striking, still this is not
the place to cite them in detail. Perhaps I ought
to add at this point that there are also noteworthy
resemblances between Schiller's work and some of
the other earlier versions of ' Tell ' ; I shall have
occasion later to refer to some of these versions.
For a list of works dealing with the ' Tell ' prob-
lem in its various phases, Franz Heinemann's
admirable ' Tell-Bibliographie ' (Bern, 1907) may
be consulted to advantage.
But Handschin finds also a significant parallel-
ism between Schiller's passage ' Ich laure auf ein
edles Wild ' and a similar one in Golo und Geno-
veva. Now, Tell is a hunter. We know him as
' Tell der Schiitz. ' Having reached the ' hohle
Gasse ' to await there the arrival of his victim, his
soliloquy naturally turns to such expressions as
' . . . liebe Kinder, . . . Jetzt geht er [der Vater]
einem andern Weidwerk nach ' . . . ' Des Feindes
Leben ist's, worauf er lauert ' . . . ' Ich laure auf
ein edles Wild. ' But if we must needs find a
precedent for Schiller, why seek it in so unlikely
a source as Golo und Genoveva, when we have
ready at hand Bodmer's Wilhehn Tell (1775) in
which we read, p. 6 : ' Hier im Gestrauche (cf.
' Holunderstrauch ' in Schiller) warte ich auf das
Raubthier?' Moreover, — and this is an impor-
tant point, of course — we have sufficient evidence
at hand to render it highly probable that Schiller
was acquainted with this ' Tell ' drama of Bodmer.
Handschin furthermore claims that Wallrad in
his soliloquy apostrophizes his heart, ear, and eye
" ganz in der Art," in Handschin' s words, " wie
Tell Pfeil und Bogenselme anredet. ' ' This ' par-
allelism' between heart, car, and eye in Mu'ller,
and arrow and bow-string in Schiller is scarcely
convincing, it seems to me, when we have actually
an apostrophized arrow ( ! ) and bow-string (!) in
the soliloquy (!) of the anonymous ' Tell ' drama
Der Schweizerbund (act 4, scene 4). Cf. Gustav
Roethe' s article : Die dramatischen Quellen des
Schillerschen ' Tell ' in ForscJnmgen zur deutsehen
Philoloyie (Leipzig, 1894, p. 257). This drama,
Der Schweizerbund, is now, by some half dozen
scholars, assigned to Johann Ludwig Ambiihl
(am Biihel). It is not unlikely that Schiller was
acquainted with it ; indeed, just as, in his play,
he has perpetuated the name of the historian
Johannes Miiller (1. 2948), so he has also named
one of his characters Burkhart am Biihel. On
this last point cf. J. Keller in Kehr's Padago-
gische Blatter, No. 15, pp. 149 ff. (1886). Am-
biihl's Tell plucks at his bow-string in order to
test its strength and soliloquizes : ' Gut. Und du !
(as he examines his arrow) auch gut. . . . Wohl
es muss seyn, Tyrann ! Wenn dir noch ein Hei-
liger im Himmel wohl will, so ahndets dir ! . . .'
It seems to me quite impossible to deny the sug-
gestive parallelism here with Schiller's :
' Mach deine Bechnung mit dem Himmel, Vogt ! . . .
Komm du hervor, du Bringer bittrer Schmerzen,
Mein teures Kleinod jetzt, mein hochster Schatz . . .
Und du,
Vertraute Bogenselme, die so oft
Mir treu gedient hat in der Freude Spielen,
Nur jetzt noch halte fest, du treuer Strang,
Der mir so oft den herben Pfeil befliigelt . . .'
But Handschin finds also in the soliloquy of
Tell and that of Golo und Genoveva a parallel
reference to suffering innocence. Suffering inno-
cence, however, and a consequent conviction
that the country must be rid of the offenders
210
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 7.
are among the very motives of the older ' Tell '
plays. Of., for instance, Ruef's version already
referred to above.
Finally as to the music introduced in Schiller's
monologue situation — a feature which Handschin
also traces to Miiller's influence. On October 1,
1803, Schiller saw Julius Gxsar played in Wei-
mar, and on the following day wrote to Goethe :
' Fur meinen Tell ist mir das Stiick von unschiitz-
barem Wert ; mein Schifflein wird auch dadurch
gehoben. Er [Julius Casar] hat mich gleich ge-
stern in die tatigste Stimmung gesetzt.' Julius
Ccesar, as well as others of Shakespeare' s plays, of
course had its influence on Schiller's Tell, but,
although some of the Shakespearean touches in
Schiller's play are very readily recognized, others,
again, are more or less conjectural. Still, if we
must here again find a precedent for Schiller,
I would suggest that perhaps the musical feature
in Tell is, in part at least, to be regarded as a
Shakespearean echo.
At any rate, in Julius Caesar we have music ar-
tistically introduced just before the portentous
ghost scene, while in Tell we have music most
effectively introduced just before the tragic shoot-
ing scene. Why, then, not connect these two
strikingly parallel features ? Such a step, indeed,
would be much more justified, under the circum-
stances, than an attempt to involve so problem-
atical a model as Goto und Genoveva — a drama
which, as I conclude from Handschin' s article,
Schiller probably never read and probably never
saw performed on the stage.
Harvard University.
C. H. IBERSHOFF.
BROWNING'S EPILOGUE TO THE TWO
POETS OF CROISIC.
Commentators of Browning have paid but
scanty attention to the charming Epilogue to the
Two Poets of Croisic, beginning :
" What a pretty tale you told me
Once upon a time
Said you found it somewhere (scold me !)
Was it prose or was it rhyme,
Greek or Latin ? Greek, you said,
While your shoulder propped my head."
And yet the poem possesses interest, if for no
other reason, in that it affords a signal illustration
of the foreign debt of English literature. In
this note I wish to indicate that debt by quoting
a few parallels from the literature of ancient
Greece and by drawing from them a conclusion
which I wish to be regarded as suggestive rather
than definitive.
The poem was written January 15, 1878.1
Mrs. Orr, to whom it was dedicated, substantially
denies the Greek element in the poem. ' ' The
'Tale' with which it (i. e., The Two Poets of
Croisic) concludes is inspired by the same feeling
(i. e., as is Natural Magic). Its circumstance
is ancient, and the reader is allowed to imagine
that it exists in Latin or Greek ; but it is simply
a poetic and profound illustration of what love
can do always and everywhere." Neither Pro-
fessor Lawton in his interesting paper on The
Classical Element in Browning's Poetry' nor Miss
Scudder, The Greek Spirit in Shelley and Brown-
ing,4 alludes to the Epilogue, and it finds no place
among the poems cited as coming from Classical
sources in Robert Browning' s Poetry, Outline Stu-
dies.'' The entire story of the cicada and the
lyre-player is nevertheless purely Greek, as the
poet himself clearly indicates in the opening lines.
The story appears in both verse and prose. Several
of the references have been cited by Mr. Mackail
in a note on an epigram in the Palatine Anthology
in his first edition of Select Epigrams from the
Greek Anthology.6 These were repeated without
addition by Mr. Cooke in his Guide Book.'' The
note in the 1896 edition of Browning's poems by
Charlotte Porter and Helen A. Clarke, the editors
of Poet Lore, is based upon the comments of Mr.
Cooke and of Mrs. Orr. It is incorrect in saying
1 Poetic and Dramatis Works of R. Browning, vol. VI, p.
116 ; G. W. Cooke, A Guide Book to the Poetic and Dra-
matic Works of Browning, Boston, 1891, p. 424 ; Browning
Society Papers, 1881-1884, Part I, Chronological List of
B.'s Works, p. 69.
'Handbook to Works of Robert Browning, London, 1885,
pp. 217, 218.
3 Boston Browning Papers, New York, 1897, pp. 363-387.
'Ibid., pp. 438-470.
6 Chicago, 1886, p. 24.
6 Longmans, Green, and Co., London, 1890: Epigram
C. 54. This edition is now out of print. The epigram is
omitted from the second edition, London, 1906.
' G. W. Cooke, pp. 446, 447.
November, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
211
" the tale appears in the Greek Anthology in both
prose and verse." There is no prose version in
the Anthology. But the earliest and most im-
portant of all the versions has escaped notice and
no attempt has been made to ascertain the relation
of the stories nor how Browning may have come
by his own version.
The earliest version extant is in prose and is
found in the Wonderbook of Antigonus of Carys-
tus, who lived till at least 226 B. c. The Wonder-
book contains an account, in one hundred and
ninety-one paragraphs, of marvellous occurrences,
especially in the realm of nature associated with
mythology. The story of Antigonus reads as
follows :
' Timaeus, the writer of the History of Sicily,
says that although the Rhegians and Locrians
are divided by the river called Halece the Loc-
rian cicadas sing, while the Rhegiau are songless.
And a more fabulous circumstance than this is
narrated by him. For when the lyre-players,
Ariston from Rhegium and Eunomus from Locri,
came to Delphi and entered into a dispute regard-
ing the drawing of lots, Ariston deemed it unbe-
coming to be worsted inasmuch as the entire colony
of the Rhegians had come from Delphi, even from
the God. But Eunomus ridiculed him saying that
they have no business at all with lyre and song
among whom not even the cicadas sing. When
the Rhegian, notwithstanding, was on the point
of success in the contest, Eunomus the Locrian
won from the following cause. In the midst of
his song a cicada alighted upon his lyre and sang.
Thereupon the festal assembly shouted their praise
of the circumstance and bade that it be allowed. ' 8
The greater part of the Wonderbook is a com-
pilation from the History of Animals, of Aristotle,
and the Mirabilia of Callimachus, the librarian
at Alexandria under Ptolemy Philadelphus. The
other sources are Ktesias, Eudoxus, and Timaeus.
The passage cannot have come from Aristotle, for
while Aristotle has several references to the sing-
ing of cicadas, he nowhere tells the story of Euno-
mus and Ariston. It is impossible to say for a
certainty whether the passage in question was
taken directly from Timaeus or indirectly through
the work of Callimachus. I believe it was taken
directly from Timaeus (1) because of the explicit
*Antig. Caryst. Hilt. Mir,, C. 1, Miiller, Fragmenta His-
lorieorum Graecorum, vol. I, p. 206.
mention of the name of Timaeus as the source * ;
(2) because Antigonus, who at the latest came
barely a generation after Timaeus, was in a posi-
tion to know his work at first hand ; (3) because
Timaeus was much given to the narration of
myths, as the numerous fragments show — a tend-
ency which won for him the merited rebuke of a
teller of ' old wives' tales ' from the sober Poly-
bius10 ; and (4) because precisely the same story
in almost identical language is given by the geog-
rapher Strabo (67 B. c. to 19 A. D.).
' The river Halece divides Rhegium from Locri,
flowing through a deep ravine, and there is a cer-
tain singular circumstance respecting cicadas which
is worthy of note. For the cicadas in the territory
of the Locrians sing, while those on the other side
of the river are songless. The cause of this is
supposed to be the fact that their country is woody
so that their membranes are moistened by dew and
produce no sound, whereas those on the Locrian
side have theirs warmed by the sun's rays, and
are dry and horny so that they easily give forth
sound. And there is shown at Locri a statue of
Eunomus the lyre-player, with a cicada sitting on
his lyre. Timaeus says that at the Pythian Games
this Eunomus and Ariston of Rhegium contended
about the lot, and that Ariston requested the sup-
port of the Delphians, alleging that his ancestors
were priests of the god and had sent out the colony
from Delphi. But Eunomus said the Rhegians
had no business at all with musical contests
because even the cicadas, the most musical of
living creatures, were silent among them. Ariston
was in popular favor, nevertheless, and had hopes
of obtaining the victory. But Eunomus won and
dedicated the aforesaid statue in his native city
because, in the course of the contest, when one of
the strings snapped, a cicada lighted upon it and
supplied the missing note.' ll
It will be observed that Strabo, like Antigonus,
explicitly mentions Timaeus as his source. Stra-
bo's use of Timaeus cannot be doubted for he
quotes Timaeus five times with definite content.
The obscure work of Antigonus is nowhere re-
ferred to and was probably unknown to him.
The earliest known authority, therefore, for the
cicada story is Timaeus of Tauromenium who lived
from about 350 to 260 before Christ.
The myth must early have found its way in
9Cf. Antig. Caryst., C. 149.
™Polyb., 12. 24, 5.
"Strabo, Oeographica, 6. 1, 9 (p. 260).
212
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
stereotyped language into the collections of the
mythographers. For it reappears as the fifth
fable in the collection of Konon, the mytho-
grapher, preserved in the yellow pages of Photius
the lexicographer. Nothing is known of Konon
save that his book comprised fifty fables and was
dedicated to the learned Archelaos of Cappadocia.
' The fifth tale tells the story of a Rhegian and
Eunomus the Locrian, the lyre-players, and how
they came to Delphi ; and that the Rhegian s and
Locrians being divided by a river (the river's
name is Halece) the Rhegiaua have songless cica-
das, while Locri has cicadas that sing ; and how
Eunomus in a contest with the Rhegian through
the song of a cicada defeated his opponent. For
the harmony then being of seven strings, and one
of the strings breaking, a cicada leaped upon the
lyre and supplied the want of the missing string. ' 12
The relationship of these literary scrap-books,
from Callimachus down, it is impossible to deter-
mine with certainty. But so far as this cicada
story is concerned there can be no doubt from both
its form and content that it is a lineal descendant
of Timaeus's source and that it is also an ancestor,
or the ancestor, of versions which we shall find in
the Anthology. Not a few epigrams in the An-
thology must have been based upon some such
mythographical source-book as Konon' s or Calli-
machus's.
Clement of Alexandria repeats the story with
the addition of such moralistic elements as were
common to the Church Fathers in their treatment
of Greek mythology. ' I might tell you, ' he says
in his Exhortation to the Heathen,
' I might tell you also the story of another, a
brother to these — the subject of a myth and a
minstrel, Eunomus the Locrian and the Pythian
cicada. A solemn Hellenic assembly had met at
Pytho to celebrate the death of the Pythian ser-
pent when Eunomus sang the reptile's epitaph.
Whether his ode was a hymn in praise of the ser-
pent or a dirge I am not able to say. But there
was a contest and Eunomus was playing the lyre
in the summer time : it was when the cicadas,
warmed by the sun, were chirping beneath the
leaves along the hills ; but they were singing not
to that dead dragon but to God all-wise — a lay
unfettered by rule, better than the numbers of
11 Photius, cod. 186, narratio 5 ; cf. also Theophrastus
Simoc. in &irop, <f>va. proem.
Eunomus. The Locrian broke a string. The
cicada sprang on the neck of the instrument and
sang on it as on a branch ; and the minstrel,
adapting his strain to the cicada's song, made up
for the want of the missing string. The cicada,
then, was attracted by the song of Eunomus, as
the fable represents, according to which also a
bronze statue of Eunomus with his lyre, and the
Locrian' s ally, was erected at Pytho. But of its
own accord it flew to the lyre, and of its own
accord sang, and was regarded by the Greeks as
a musical performer.' 13
In a letter to Jamblichus (Ep. 41) the emperor
Julian writes :
' Do not yourself deign to add your want. Even
before now God stood by an archer, when called
upon, and laid his hand on the shaft ; and when
a lyre-player was singing the orthian strain, the
Pythian god through a cicada rightly supplied the
sound of the missing string. '
Aelian " and Pausanias, 16 the second century
Baedeker, are also impressed by the musical qual-
ities of the Locrian cicadas but do not relate the
myth of Eunomus. The Rhegian cicadas, says
Pausanias, ' utter never a cheep, ' and Aelian
admits the fact but does ' not know the cause ;
nobody knows ; nature alone knows.' 16
Plato called the cicadas ' the prophets of the
Muses ' and their singing was proverbial among
the Greeks for sweetness, as many passages
attest." And the tradition has remained in
English poetry. But Herakles had a duller ear
and a shorter temper than most, if we are to
believe Diodorus Siculus (4. 22). For when the
cicadas disturbed Herakles' s sleep during a night's
stay in the Locrian region, he swore to the gods
that he would clean them out. ' And in all after
time,' Diodorus continues, ' none was ever seen
there.' Not so. But Diodorus was a book- worm
and probably didn't know a cricket when he saw
one.
13 Clem. Alei., Protre.pt. C. 1.
uDenat. animal. 5 (E) 9.
15 6. 6, 2.
16Cf. Pliny, N. H., 11. 26 (32). In Lucian's Vera
Historin, bk. 2. 15, Eunomus is a leader of the Elysian
chorus.
"Cf. 11. 3. 151 ; Hesiod, W. D., 582; Alcaeus frag.,
39 (B) ; Theocr. 1. 148 ; 16. 94 ; Anacreontea, 32 ; Aris-
toph. Pax, 1159 ; Anth. Pal., passim.
November, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
213
The story occurs twice in the Anthology, once
under the name of Paulus Silentiarius (6. 54),
who was a court official under Justinian, and
again among the anonymous epigrams (9. 584).
Paulus' s poem bears a heading which may have
been identical with the dedicatory inscription :
' the offering of Eunomus, the lyn \ to Apollo. '
The poem itself differs from the foregoing versions
in that the name of Eunomus' s opponent is given
as Parthes, not Ariston. It reads :
' The Locrian Eunomus offers up this bronze
cicada to the Lycoreau god as a memorial of his
contest for the crown. For the contest was of the
lyre and Parthes stood against me 19 ; but when
the Locrian shell sang under the plectrum, a lyre-
string rang and snapped jarringly. But ere the
rhythmical song halted in its harmony, a cicada,
trilling delicately, settled on the lyre and took up
the note of the missing string. And the rustic
sound that till then chirrupped in the woodlands
it turned to the measure of my touch upon the
lyre. Wherefore, blessed son of Leto, he honors
thy cicada, seating the singer in bronze upon his
lyre.'19
The anonymous version is four lines longer and
presents slight variations. The heading runs :
'on a statue of Eunomus the lyre-player standing
in Delphi, having a musical cicada on the lyre.'
The opponent is now Spartis, and the poem is
characterized by a slightly different tone, a note
of almost Pindaric pride :
' Thou knowest, Apollo, how I, Eunomus, the
Locrian, once defeated Spartis. I speak to those
who know. I was playing a fast lay — if aloXov
vopov is not classical for a rag-time lay — on my
lyre when, in midst of the song, my plectrum
snapped a string. And when occasion called for
the proper note it remained no longer true to the
rhythmic strains. But a cicada alighting of its own
accord upon the lyre's bridge supplied the want in
the harmony. For I struck the six strings and when
I took thought of the seventh I found the cicada' s
note. For the singer of the noon-day sun then
fitted its pastoral song to my lay and whenever its
song came forth it altered its note to chime with
my soul-less strings. Therefore I render thanks
to the symphonist who, moulded in bronze, sits
upon my lyre.' "°
18 This line is quoted by Suidas under Parthes.
"Anthol. Pal., 6. 54.
•*>Antkol. Pal, 9. 584.
These detailed references disprove Mrs. Orr's
note. Now which of these versions, the oldest
going back to Timaeus, was Browning most likely
to have known? Browning's reading in Greek,
as numerous passages in his letters prove, was con-
fined fairly closely to the usual, beaten track, and
none of these versions can be said to lie in books
commonly read. I think that Browning's poem
itself supplies the first clue to his immediate source.
For there can be no doubt, it seems to me, that the
" you ' ' of the poem is Mrs. Browning, although
the poem appeared sometime after her death.
Mrs. Browning's reading in Greek covered a wide
range and often penetrated into dark corners.
" I read much," she writes in Aurora Leigh :
" I read much. What my father taught before
From many a volume, love re-emphasized
Upon the self-same pages : Theophrast
Grew tender with the memory of his eyes,
And Aelian made mine wet." sl
It is certain that she knew Paulus Silentiarius.
For in a letter to Mr. H. S. Boyd, her director in
Greek, she writes under the date of March 29,
1842 :
"I send you Silentiarius and some poems of
Pisida in the same volume. Even if you had not
asked for them, I should have asked you to look
at some passages which are fine in both. It appears
to me that Sileutiarius writes difficult Greek, over-
laying his description with a multitude of archi-
tectural and other far-fetched words." "
And again she writes to him on May 17, 1842 :
" You do not like Silentiarius very much (that
is my inference), since you have kept him so short
a time. And I quite agree with you that he is
not a poet of the same interest as Gregory Nazi-
anzen, however he may appear to me of more
lofty cadence in his versification. My own im-
pression is that John of Euchaita is worth two of
each of them as a poet. ' ' "
This volume must have been the thirty-second
in the Corpus Scriptorum Histories Byzantince, pub-
lished at Bonn in 1837. Her remark about Si-
lentiarius ' ' overlaying his description with a mul-
*'Bk. 1. Cf. what she says of Proclus, bk. 5.
" Letters of E. B. Brmminy, 3rd edit. London, vol. I,
p. 103.
"Ibid., p. 104.
214
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 7.
titude of architectural and other far-fetched words"
is due to the fact that the volume contains only the
Ekphrasis, a descriptive poem, in tedious hexam-
eters, of the Church of St. Sophia and its chancel,
at Constantinople. Paulus is also the author of
some seventy-eight epigrams in the Anthology
which are characterized by a perfection of finish
second only to Meleager's.
It is safe to say that with all her breadth of
reading, Mrs. Browning would not have left un-
read so interesting a portion of the later literature,
so interesting above all to a poet, as the Anthology.
And the Anthology was easily accessible to her in
the three small volumes of the Tauchnitz edition
first published at Leipzig in 1829 and later run-
ning through several editions. From this Garden
of Song, as the Greeks liked to call it, she must
have culled the story which she gave her husband.
For Browning's version bears most striking re-
semblance to the anonymous epigram and there
can be no doubt that his poem was based upon it.
It is improbable, I think, that Mrs. Browning was
familiar with the prose versions of Strabo or
Konon or Antigonus of Carystus.
University of Michigan.
J. G. WINTER.
FRENCH WORDS IN ENGLISH AFTER
1066.
In his Growth and Structure of the English
Language, pp. 93-94, Professor Jespersen shows
the influx of French words at different periods by
means of a table comprising one thousand words.
The table gives the half-century to which the
earliest quotation in the NED. belongs and proves
" conclusively that the linguistic influence did not
begin immediately after the conquest, and that it
was strongest in the years 1251-1400."
In my opinion this method cannot lead to satis-
factory results. I set aside the question of the
exact date of some early Middle-English texts,
and do not dispute the authority of the NED.,
though inaccuracies occur even in that monu-
mental work. My objection is that the loan-
words are counted without regard to the scope
and the nature of the literature in which they are
found. The fourteenth century is represented by
300 borrowings, the twelfth by 16 (15 in the
second half, 1 in the first). But the fourteenth
century possesses a rich and varied literature
which, as a matter of course, offers a far greater
number of loan-words than we can possibly ex-
pect to find in the scanty and poor products of
the century that followed the Conquest. A hun-
dred pages contain more foreign words than ten
pages do.
Klnge enumerates some twenty French words
in late Old English (Engl. Stud., xxi, pp. 334 f. ),
unfortunately without giving references. Some of
these words are very doubtful,1 but on the other
hand we may add drut,* tur, and perhaps gingifer,
burse, cuffie, cantel, butse (?), see Dictionaries.
Was the Norman Conquest immediately fol-
lowed by a stronger influx of French words ?
The literary sources are so scarce that it is diffi-
cult to draw conclusions as to the number of the
loan-words and the date of their adoption. In a
great many cases Latin paved the way to French ;
but it is also possible that French influence was at
work through the medium of the language of the
Church.
Legal is found twice in Pet. Chr., 675 (Pet. in-
sertion), rendering Lat. legatus, and further ib.
1123, 1127, at any rate reinforced by French,
like aduent, ib. 963, 1099, 1120, and perhaps
euangelista, ib. 1119. Capellan appears towards
the end of the eleventh century, Land Chart, p.
, 251, Pet. Chr., 1099 ;3 the use of the word was
1 Tresor is now placed by Kluge in the 12th c., see
Gnmdr. d. roman. Phil., I, p. 513. I think race is Ger-
manic. If catt is Frencli at all, it is certainly not a late
borrowing. Arce- is rather due to Latin ; in spite of an
increasing French influence the later annals of the Pet.
Chr. prefer erce- (French arche- seems to appear about
1200, Lamb. H. 41, Las., i"> 193, Earle, Land Charters,
pp. 377 f., etc.). As to clere, cf. MacGillivray, The In-
fluence of Christianity, etc., p. 75 ; the very nature of the
liquids implies uncertainty in spelling, comp. conversely
Lag., B in, 196 clearekes, etc. I observe that cumin, which
may be French, is quoted by the NED. from Mt. xxin,
23 Hatt. MS. (cf. v in the emendation to Corp.). Cumin
also occurs in Peri Dida-c., p. 45, 18 (Loweneck' sedition).
2 Drut, Se domes dazge, v. 290 ; drucS, Cant. Godr. , Zup-
itza, Engl. Stud., XI, 431.
3 The contracted form capel occurs in Land Chart.,
p. 261.
November, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
215
certainly suggested by French ; Pet. Chr., 1114,
has the true Norman form capelein. Ib., 1123,
we find canonie, 1129, canonias, and somewhat
later canon, Land Chart, p. 26 1.4 Cardinal
occurs Pet. Chr., 1125. In nonnan, Sax. Chr.,
D901 (MS. from about A. D. 1100), it is doubtful
whether French influence went beyond the spelling.
According to MacGillivray, I. c. p. 72, " prior is
not found in Old English at all." It is also worth
noticing that the word was not adopted into Old
Norse. It should however be observed that only
few priories existed in England before the Nor-
man time. About A. D. 1100 there are numerous
examples of the word in English texts, see e. g.
Land Chart, p. 271, Pet. Chr., 1107, Thorpe,
Diplom. Angl., p. 445. 5 In the Winteney Reg.
Ben. ealdor is still retained as translation of Lat.
prior (p. conventualis), while priore renders
prceposita (prafost in the older versions), see e. g.
Cap. xx, xxi, LXV.
Cellos occurs in Pet. Chr., 1129 ; the ending -as
is not Latin, as shown by canonias in the same
passage. Sax. Chr., A 1070, has already serfise
(church-service), and Pet. Chr., 1070, cantel-
capas.6 Conciliein Pet. Chr., 1125, is doubtful as
it may have been regularly formed from concilium,
used ib. 1119 and in Sax. Chr., A 1070. Simi-
larly Pet. Chr., 1137, priuilegies (Diplom. Angl.,
p. 391, privilegium). Sauters in Diplom. Angl.,
p. 555, is probably too late to interest us here.1
Pet. Chr., 1131 (and probably also 1125) retains
the Latin form processionem, but procession ap-
pears ib. 1103, processiun, ib. 1154, and in Land
Chart, p. 260. 8
•Cf. MacGillivray, 1. c., p. 109.
5Wulstan, the prior mentioned in this document, was
made prior before 1058, see Dngda.le,Monast.Anyl.,l,p.580.
6 Perhaps an innovation of canterc&ppe = O. Norse kan-
lamkapa (see Fritzner, Diet.) used at the altar by the
bishop or the priest ; cf. the archbishop's cantel-cape in
Lag., HI, 193.
1 Capitularie in Leofric's letter in Land Chart., p. 251,
is not recorded by Dictionaries. The word has certainly
nothing to do with French. As to tropere, ib., p. 250 and
elsewhere, cf. also troperium in Ducange. Does caliceas,
ib., p. 250, indicate the Norman-French form, later cafe?
80 may interchange with u in French loan-words, thus
the last Peterborough annalist writes Ireson, tresor, besides
prisun, etc. But procession is not necessarily a French
form, cf . turn passlone in Sweet' s O. E. T. , p. 444, 37.
Penteeosten is so frequent in Old English texts
that we are almost surprised to see on ftisum dcege
f>e is Pentecostes gecweden, -<Elfc., Horn., I1, p. 314,
interpreted later on in Lamb. H., 89, on fnsse
deie f>et is pentecostes and ivittesunnedeie on ure
speche (similarly some lines above in the same
homilies). But eastron prevails everywhere, and
it seems likely that pasches, Pet. Chr., 1122,
is due to French examples. Natiuiteft = Cristes
mcesse occurs eight times in Pet. Chr., 1102-1116,
but exclusively in passages derived from the
southern annals.
The last hand of the Pet. Chr. offers 1137
carited (d=/) and miracles.
Angel is found in Eadw. Canterb. Ps., 34, 6
(written by a corrector), magnified (gloss) ib.,
Hy., 10, 46."
All of these words are connected with the
Church. Without underrating the Latin element
we are entitled to say that their employment was
largely due to French.
The first scribe of the Pet. Chr. retains the
Latin form Augustus, 1013, but he generally
drops the Latin ending, e. g., 678, 1097, 1106.
Plummer takes Maies montie, 1080, 1110, Juniea
monSe, 1110, Julies monfte, 1115, as genitives
(see Glossary). It is possible that the endings
were given up in imitation of the French names
of the months, though it is equally possible that
the language gave them up on its own account.
But an appositive genitive of that kind looks very
suspicious at such an early date. I am inclined
to believe that Julies mori&e, etc., is a weakening
of Julius monaft, Menologium, 132, etc. This
weakening, whieh was perhaps due to the exist-
ence of the shorter forms, later on conveyed the
notion of a genitive.
Corona has been recorded a few times in Old
English. After 1066 it begins to displace kyne-
helm(Sax. Chr., D1066, Pet. Chr., 1085, 1111),
probably disguising the French vocable, cf. coruna
in Eadw. Canterb. Ps., 20, 4. About the same
time we meet with prisun, Sax. Chr., D 1076,
Pet. Chr., 1112, 1137, 1140 ; arblast, Sax.
Chr., D1079; eanceler, Pet. Chr., 1093, 1123,
"Wildhagen, Engl. Stud., xxxix, p. 199. Other quo-
tations in the following.
216
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
{Vol. xxiv, No. 7.
1137. [-He] dubbade, ib. 1085, is at least French
as regards the sense of dubbing a knight.10
Somewhat later we find werre (wyrre), Pet.,
Chr., 1116, 1118, 1119, 1140," (the verb wer-
rien, ib. 1135), acordian, ib. 1120, 1121, 1135,
and due, ib. 1129. The latter word was certainly-
adopted much earlier, cf. duxes (with English in-
flexion), Sax. Chr., C 755 = eoldormannes in the
other MSB.
Besides carited, miracles, priuilegies (and wer-
rien, processiun, etc.), the last annals offer pais,
1135, 1140 (three times ; the phrase paw macian
is perhaps modelled on French), treson, 1135,
iustice, 1137, 1140, crucethus, rentes, tresor, tense-
rie, 1137, euntesse, emperice, 1140, curt, 1154.
Proper names are of minor importance. As be-
longing to that category I mention Sax. Chr.,
D 1066, Wyllelm bastard, Pet. Chr., 1094,
p mynster cet/>cere Bataille. From ib. 1086, France
supersedes Francland, Francric. As the scribe
did not alter the old forms in the earlier annals it
is probable that he found France in the text he
had before him. De in territorial titles: Rotbert
de Bcelesme, ib. 1104. Rceins (for Rernis, etc.),
ib. 1119. The last hand has Standard, 1138,
Alamanie, 1140 (for Sexland).
Eadw. Canterb. Ps. further contains seime, 62,
6 (added by a corrector), latimeres (plur. ) Hy.,
16. I am not certain about spunge, quoted by
Behrens12 from Roy. MS., Mk. xv, 36 (also John
xbc, 29 ?).
The NED. cites as the earliest instance of
"Tur, which occurs already in Rit. Dim., 176, 13, ap-
pears Pel. Chr., 1097, 1100, 1101, 1117, 1140. Laces in
Pet. Chr., 656 (Pet. insertion) renders Lat. lads, Birch,
Cart. Sax., I, p. 35 ; but lads is here associated with stag-
nis (meres) and paludibus (feonnes). Such rural terms
should be explained, as far as possible, without the aid of
foreign influence. Norwegian lok means a brook, a swamp,
a puddle, in some dialects also smooth spots on a rippled
sheet of water (H. Koss, Norsk Ordbog); cf. also Skeat,
Notes on English Etymology, p. 153, and Staub & Tobler,
Schweiz. 1. Idiotikon, ' Lache.'
11 War-scot in Pseudo Cnut is much later (see Lieber-
mann, Die Geselze der Angelsachsen) . Kluge, Gfrundr. d.
roman. Phil., I, p. 513, mentions werre (and Servian) as
borrowed in the eleventh century. In Kluge- Lutz, Engl.
Etym., these words are assigned to the twelfth century.
we serueden occurs in Mnr. Ode, 319 (Lamb. Horn.).
"Beitriige zur Geschichte der franzosischen Sprache in Eng-
land, p. 51.
master prefixed to a proper name maister William
in Rob. Glouc., but it occurs already in Land Ch.,
p. 258," on Viuienes gewitnisse. 3 mestre Odo. -\
mestre Leowines. Contrasting with other titles in
this and similar documents mestre is placed before
the name. Sense and sound betray its French
origin.
Finally, I mention Cantus beati Godrici u :
Sainte Marie 15 virgine, flur (and druS). Godric
died in 1170, but he was then a very old man,
and the poem may have been composed at a much
earlier date. In the Worcester Fragment,16 which
is perhaps too late to be adduced here, I find the
earliest instance of questiuns1'' (Curs. Mund. in
the NED.).
From 1066 to 1131 half of the borrowings had
a learned character, being chiefly connected with
the Church, and were strongly supported by Latin.
From 1132 up to the middle of the twelfth cen-
tury the loan-words were, on the whole, of a more
popular kind and more genuine 'French, though
they do not disclose such intimate relations as
some of the Scandinavian words do. It is also
uncertain how far they had become current : the
Peterborough annalist finds it necessary to explain
crucethus and tenserie.
The percentage of the borrowings cannot be
fixed exactly. We are at the mercy of the fancy
and taste of a few writers, and in many cases it is
doubtful whether a particular word should be con-
sidered as mainly French or mainly Latin. In
approximate figures the Peterborough Chronicle
may be said to contain : from 1066 to 1121 in 43
pages at least 8 novel words, 1122-1131 in 12
pages 6 words, 1132-1154 in 6J pages 13 words,
which gives a ratio of 2 : 5 : 20 words respectively.
"Placed by Earle among Genuine Records Undated,
Eleventh Cenlury, but Earle' s Eleventh Century Records
also contain documents belonging (in substance) to the
twelfth century, cf. e. g., p. 261.
"Zupitza, Engl. Stud., XI, p. 431 ; Liebermann, Her-
rig'e Archiv, Civ, p. 125.
liSeinte Marian in Elucidarium (early 12th c. ), ed. M.
Foerster, Furnimll Misc., p. 89.
I6Varnhagen, Anglia, in, p. 424.
"Wint. Reg. Ben., which cannot be included in this
list, has, p. 147, sermun, collatiuns. I have not had access
to Gray Birch, Liber vitce, nor have I seen L. Gay's
article : " Anglo-French Words in English," Mod. Lang.
Notes, xiv, 81-85.
November, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
217
On the other hand, the closing leaves of Sax. Chr.
A and D 1066-1080 have in 10£ pages 4 words,
i. e., the ratio ; 4. The loan-words in Godric's
twelve lines baffle any statistics.
In the first decades after the Conquest we
observe only a slow increase of French words.
The influx is growing considerably stronger to-
wards the middle of the twelfth century.
A. TEAMPE BODTKER.
Christiania, Norway.
ECHOES OF THE CLASSICS IN KIPLING.
Few students of literature, I suppose, would
expect to find any classical influences in the
writings of so unconventional a versifier as Kip-
ling. On the other hand, any one who appre-
ciates the poet's power of adapting all his expe-
riences to the service of his pen would naturally
expect that some references would be found in his
writings to the early grind in the classics which
was not to be escaped even in a technical school.
And so we find that Vergil, Horace, and Homer
are not forgotten, even if remembered only to point
a jest. In his first volume, Early Verse, are found
several humorous efforts under the titles, This Side
the Styx, suggesting Aeneid vi ; Caret ; Solus cum
sola ; Quaeritur ; Carmen Simlaense resembling in
name only the Carmen Saeculare of Horace, Donee
gratus eram, a burlesque imitation of Horace in.
9, and more serious verses under Itequiescat in
pace and Ave Imperatrix. Another Latin title
Credat Judasus comes, of course, from Hor. Sat.
1. 5. 100, and though now a proverb was no
doubt familiar to Kipling in its original setting.
In The Maid of the Meerschaum one famous phrase
from Horace is incorporated without translation — ,
labuntur anni fug aces.
In the next volume Ballads and Barrack-room
Ballads, the school-boy trifling is laid aside and
there are a few serious classical allusions. The
introductory poem contains references to the reli-
gions of Greeks, Mohammedans, and Hebrews.
The Greek reference is commonplace and would
not necessarily indicate any knowledge of Greek
literature,
They are purged of pride because they died ; they know
the worth of their bays,
They sit at wine with the Maidens Nine, and the Godi of
the Elder Days.
The best poem in the volume is the Ballad of the
East and West, characterised by Tennyson as the
"finest thing of the kind in English verse." I
think that the scene therein portrayed of the rob-
ber chieftain and the young officer, each instinc-
tively recognizing the true man in the other,
pledging friendship and exchanging gifts must
surely have been inspired by a similar scene in
Homer, Iliad, vi, 119-234. At least the Hom-
eric scene would have been in Kipling's mind.
In the poem The English Flag occur the lines :
Never the lotos closes, never the wild-fowl wake,
But a soul goes out on the East- Wind that died for England' 8
sake.
The idea here may have been suggested by Vergil
Aen. iv, 705, describing the death of Dido, —
Omnis et una dilapsus calor, atque in ventos vita
recessit. The next volume, The Seven Seas, con-
tains a few noteworthy allusions. In The Native-
Born Kipling has translated a familiar line of
Horace very happily :
They change their skies above them,
But not their hearts that roam.
which the Roman poet had written in Epis. I. 11.
27, — Coelum, non animum mutant, qui trans mare
currunt. In the same poem another undoubted
classical phrase is used, this time from Homer —
Iliad 9. 594, /3aOv£u>vovs Tt
To the tall deep-bosomed women
And the children nine and ten.
In the Song of the Banjo there is the obvious
Homeric reference in / have sailed with young
Ulysses from the quay and to Hesiod's story of
Mercury in "The grandam of my grandam was the
Lyre, That the dealer stooping backward filled with
fire."
In Kipling's last volume, The Five Nations, no
trace of classical allusion can be detected except
in such stock phrases as doves of Venus, Port of
Paphos, old Hesperides, Syren's whispering shriek
and the titles for two humorous poems, Ubique
and Et dona ferentes, the latter of which contains
a line which reminds one of something in third-
218
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 1.
year Latin — They removed, effaced, abolished all
that man could heave or lift — , compare Cic. in Cat.
n, 1, Abiit, excessit, evasit, erupit. The volume
closes with Kipling's greatest production, the
Recessional. I may be wrong iu suggesting a
Greek influence here, but it has always seemed to
me that the tone of that great poem is more in
accord with the feeling of Greek tragedy than that
of Christian theology. Excessive prosperity was
dangerous to the Greek. It made him insolent
and neglectful of the gods. He therefore feared
a vf/j-ia-^ for his v/?p«. So here the poet prays for
freedom from a boastful spirit ' ' lest we forget ' '
the power that can destroy as well as create.
Tnos. K. SIDEY.
University of Washington.
A MIDDLE ENGLISH ADDITION TO
THE WAGER CYCLE.
The recently ' ' discovered ' ' * Worcester Cathe-
dral MS. contains several pieces of more than
ordinary interest to the student of medieval liter-
ature, some of which were previously unknown in
English versions. The most significant of the new
pieces are several moral treatises (one by Richard
Rolle of Hampole), copies of two or three archi-
episcopal documents of the thirteenth and four-
teenth centuries, especially the Statutes of Roger
Niger, bishop of London (1229-1241), and
finally a Middle English version of Peter Al-
fonse's Disciplina Clericalis. This famous col-
lection of oriental tales which was written in
Latin by a converted Jew of Spain early in the
twelfth century, has been preserved by transla-
tion or adaptation, as a whole or in part, in every
important literature of Europe. The tales became
widely known thru the medium of Old French
poetical versions during the first one hundred
years after their composition, and it was not
much later before they had found their way into
Italian, English, German and Scandinavian liter-
atures. Certain of the more popular stories were
'Cf. W. H. Hulme, A Valuable Middle English Manu-
»tript, Mod. Phil., IV, 67 fit. (1906).
incorporated in slightly modified form into the
most famous collections of medieval tales, such as
the Gesta Romanorum, Alphabetum Narrationum,
Cento Novelle Anticlie, Boccaccio's Decamerone,
and the Conde Lucanor of Don Juan Manuel.
By the end of the fourteenth century at the
latest Peter Alfonse's work seems to have been
well known in England, for Chaucer refers to it
in the Canterbury Tales ! with the air of perfect
familiarity. And not long after the date of the
Canterbury Tales we have a Middle English ver-
sion of the Alphabetum Narrationum1 in which
more than a third of the tales of the Disciplina
Clericalis are reproduced in abbreviated form.
Then late in the fifteenth century Caxton printed
an English version of thirteen of the stories in
The Booke of the Subtyl Historyes and Fables of
Esope (1483). About the same time the Wor-
cester MS. version was probably made. At any
rate the MB. belongs to about the middle of the
fifteenth century and it contains twenty-five of
the tales, — the only early English version of any-
thing like the complete Disciplina. While this
version omits eight of the stories found in the
most complete Latin* versions, it contains two
or three that have not been found in any other
translation or adaptation. One of the latter is of
especial interest to the student of comparative lit-
erature, in that it represents what seems to be the
shortest, most simple, and most primitive form of
any of the tales of the well-known cycle of " The
Woman Falsely Accused, ' ' which was so popular
2 See his Tale of Melibeus. It may, however, be doubted
whether Chaucer knew anything about the Disciplina
Clericalis except what he found in the sources of this tale.
Albertano of Brescia (flor. 13th cent. ) gives numerous
quotations from Peter Alfonse in his Book of Consolation
and Counsel (ed. Thor Sundby for Chaucer Society, 1873),
which Jean de Meung reproduced in his Livre de Hellibee
et Prudence.
sAn Alphabet of Tales. An Enylish 15th Century Trans-
lation of the Alphabetum Narrationum, etc. Edited by Mrs.
Mary M. Banks Two parts, London, EETS., 1904, 1905.
Cf. also P. Toldo, DaW Alphabetum Narrationum, Herrigs
archiv, 117, 68 ff.
*Cf. Pctri Alfonsi Disdplinae Clei-icalis. Zum ersten
inal herausgegeben, etc., von Fr. Wilh. Val. Schmidt,
Berlin, 1827 ; also, Discipline de Clergie de Pierre Al-
phonse. Socie'te' des Bibliophiles francais. Par J. La-
bouderie, Paris, 1824. See also Migne, Pali: Lot., torn.
157, col. 671 ff.
November, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
219
and appeared in so many different forms in various
literatures of the Middle Ages. The story also
belongs to the important subdivision 6 of this cycle
which Gaston Paris calls Le Cycle de la Gageure*
It should be of especial interest to Shakesperian
students, because it serves to throw a little more
light on the difficult question of the ultimate
source, or sources, of the plot of Cymbeline. The
short piece occurs on fol. 137 of the Worcester
MS. 172, and runs as follows :
"Ther were ii marchauntis in Rome, of the
whiche that oon had a wif a chast and a faire
womman. Forsoth that other no trustifeith had
in no womman. Whan and wherfor surntyme
whan an(d) 7 other wern disceived of wymmens
lightnes,9 he joied. He forsoth of the trust and
feith of his wif ageynsaide that other, of the
whiche thei put in plegge al their possessioun :
this that he shuld corrupt hir withyu xv daies,
he, for whi as with this condicioun stidefastly
kept, that the husbond shuld nat warne or tel his
wif of this covenaunt. She therfor busied with
al maner of lightnes as wi}> nothyng lad nor huyred
bi hir footemayde or seruaunt with yiftes corrupt
she was disceived. Forsoth she had a Ryug, that
is to [say], 'of hir first husbondes yift above al
possessiouns most diere. She had also a ve?-nacle
in signe and of an hand and an half from the kne
vnto the Right hipe. And whan so bi the foote-
maide or seruaunt prively had taken he that
knoweu Ryug and with knowlache that I have
saide told and rehersed to his felaw, as signes and
tokenes of most certayne advowtrye, he bitake
with cursid suspeccioun exiled hymsilf of his pos-
sessioun and vsid of exile. This thyng noised bi
the Citee she was outcast as advowteres and to
the nephew or cosyn of hir husbond she was com-
mitted. Ther [he] cam into Alisaunder and cov-
ered and hid with strength and kynde of clothis
beryng hymsilf evene to the kyng in manyfold
seruice, in the friendship of the kyng hym bare
as myght be in curtesye most swift and light as
admyuistratrice of al J>c Real me. The kynges
Rentis wern infinytily multiplied bi his provi-
dence. Than themperour of Rome dede. His
yong soue whan he Empired in the (f. 137b)
Empire herd of the sapient wisdam of hym of
Alisaunder [and] sent [for] hym to Rome. [He]
"Cf. Edwin A. Greenlaw, The Vows of Baldwin (Publ.
Mod. Lang. Assoc., xxi, 607 (footnote).
6 Romania, xxxn, 481 S.
1 Letters in parentheses are redundant, the punctuation
is my own.
8 This word added on margin of MS.
9 Letters or words in brackets are my own addition.
peased thempire. Restored soft and easy lawes into
the friendship of themperour and the Citezenis and
the provynce with his high merites, nat puttyng
hymsilf any symulacioun or token vnto his traitour.
Bi hap and fortune [she] fond hir husbond among
poore folk most porest and dide hym to be nur-
risshed. And bifore his traitour dide to be
Rehersed his treason bifore the Citezeyns. pat
don [he] arraied a feste to the delectacioun, that
is to say, of felawship and festers. Than at the
last he opened and [was] deemed into deth of his
owne confessioun. The pore man went his wey
and she to hir husbond. ' ' I0
Now, it is evident that the tale as here given
has been translated and possibly abbreviated.
The translator was apparently rather ignorant of
the idiomatic English of the late fifteenth century,
or he was probably trying to reproduce a word for
word translation of his original. But in spite of
the awkward language and the loose style we can
easily gather that the subject of the tale is vir-
tually the same as that which Gaston Paris calls
the ' ' fundamental theme ' ' of all the varieties of
the Wager cycle." That is to say, we have here
a man who boasts of the virtue of a woman in the
presence of another man who undertakes to seduce
her. By means of deception the gallant makes it
appear that the woman has yielded to his solicita-
tions, but in the end her innocence is established
and the would-be-seducer is punished.
It is not possible or necessary to attempt here
to analyze the numereus varieties of the tales
belonging to the Wager cycle. For this group is
not only very large, but it is in itself, as I have
said, a branch of the still larger cycle of "The
Woman Falsely Accused."
Paris in his thorough study of the Wager cycle
makes two grand divisions of the tales belonging
under it, and several sub-divisions. In tales of
the first division (A), the gallant acts thruout in
good faith. In those of the second class (B), he
sets out to win by fair means or foul and employs
strategy, bribery, and deception of every sort to
compass his ends. Paris is of the opinion that
(A) represents more primitive forms of the story,
in which it is a sister whose chastity is the object
10 This version seems to be a corrupt and abbreviated
reproduction of the original, about which I have as yet
obtained no information whatever.
11 Op. eit., p. 481,
220
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 7.
of the wager, and not a wife. He accordingly
reconstructs " what he thinks might represent the
original form of the tale :
A young hero praises his sister's virtue at the
court of a king. The king (or another) asserts
confidently that he can seduce her, and the hero
is cast into prison to await the issue. If the
attempt prove successful, he is to forfeit his life.
The sister receives the solicitations of the gallant
and pretends to acquiesce. But she persuades a
maid-servant to take her place, whose ring-fin-
ger the gallant cuts off and brings with him as
proof of his success. The hero thinking he has
lost, is preparing for death when the sister arrives
and shows her finger intact."
This simple form of the story has been preserved
in a medieval Greek poem, an outline of which is
given by Paris,1' and also in the ancient Scottish
ballad, The Two, Knights.™ In the latter tale it
is, however, a wife instead of a sister, on whose
virtue the wager is laid. The change from sister
to wife is not difficult to account for when we con-
sider the numerous transformations which simple,
primitive stories underwent during the Middle
Ages.
While this form of the wager story is not known
in any oriental version, its general characteristics
are such as to suggest an oriental origin. Von
der Hagen " thinks the method of obtaining evi-
dence by mutilation (that is, by cutting off a
finger) points to the great antiquity of the story.
And the development of the mutilation feature
in oriental medieval tales is very interesting in
connection with the study of the origin of birth-
marks, and of fadeless flowers or pictures as em-
blems of faithfulness between husband and wife ;
but such considerations would lead us too far
afield. These and all other features of the
wager cycle have either been touched upon or
treated in detail by Von der Hagen," Landau,18
"P. 546.
"While such reconstructions are largely a matter of
guesswork, Paris' a attempt seems to be more plausible
than that of Ohle (55 f. ),— tho Ohle is concerned princi-
pally with that form of the story which furnishes the plot
of Cymbeline.
" P. 483.
15 Described and printed by Child, ix, 21 ff.
" Oeaammt Abenteucr, in, p. Ixxxiii ff.
17 Op. tit. " Die Quellen des Dekameron, 135 ff.
Ohle,19 Greenlaw, Paris and others. Suffice it
to say that in most cases the gallant attains his
end (or thinks he does so) by means of deception
practiced with the help of a middle- woman (cham-
bermaid, nurse, or other familiar of the lady).
Sometimes he gains admittance to the lady's cham-
ber by means of some such ruse as concealing him-
self in a chest and having it deposited in the room.
Sometimes a maid-servant or other attendant of
the lady describes the interior of her room to the
gallant, as well as a birthmark on the lady's body,
and steals for him some precious piece or pieces of
her jewelry. And sometimes the gallant succeeds
in having an accomplice concealed in the lady's
chamber, whose discovery by the husband (or
others) places her in a compromising situation.
In the stories which have thus far been recorded
the defeated brother, lover, or husband employs
numerous devices for avenging himself upon the
lady who he supposes has deceived him. And in
every case the treachery of the gallant is laid bare,
or his mistake (in those instances in which he acts
in good faith) is corrected. In the end punish-
ment is meted out where it is due, and reconcilia-
tion is generally effected between lover and beloved.
The Worcester version of the story clearly be-
longs in class B, and its very simple and primitive
character might seem to make it doubtful whether
Paris is correct in supposing that A represents an
earlier form of the cycle. But this question can
only be settled in a convincing manner by a more
comprehensive study than has thus far been under-
taken of the entire cycle of " The Woman Falsely
Accused." Our tale presents the following char-
acteristics which will be found in some one or in
several of the tales of the Wager cycle, as it is
analyzed by Paris : (1) A wager is laid by a hus-
band on the chastity of his wife. (2) When his
advances are rejected, the would-be seducer em-
ploys deception and bribery to compass his ends.
(3) By such means he gains possession of a
highly prized ornament (a ring) belonging to the
lady, and he also learns about a birthmark, — its
appearance and location on her body. (4) The
deceived husband attempts to punish his appar-
ently disloyal wife (that is, she is committed "to
19 fiber die Rymanixhen Vorliiufer von Sliakespeares Cym-
beline, Leipzig, 1890.
November, 1909].
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
221
the nephew or cosyn of hir husbond").80 (5)
But she disguises herself as a man and flees to
Alexandria, where she wins great favor as a coun-
sellor and efficient officer of the ruler of the coun-
try. (6) In the performance of her duties there
she one day discovers her husband among the
beggars of the city, makes herself known to him
and they are reconciled. (7) Thru the energetic
action of the lady the treacherous gallant is
brought to bay and made to suffer for his crimes.
While we find all these common characteristics
present, there is only one of the score and more
tales recorded and described by Paris ll that offers
any very close parallel to the Worcester version.
And this tale is preserved in the Tours MS. 468,
fol. 165. It is as follows : There was once a lady
famous for her great virtue. On a certain occa-
sion when courtiers were traducing women in
the presence of the king the conversation turned
to the lady. One of those present said : "I
wager my estate that I can go to her home and do
what I wish with her in fifteen days ; and I will
prove my success by reliable evidence. ' ' The hus-
band denies that he can do it, and wagers his
estate also. The gallant repairs to the dwelling
of the lady, but failing to gain access, he beguiles
by fraud a maid-servant of the lady, who steals
and turns over to him a ring which the lady had
received from her husband. Moreover, she re-
veals to him the fact that the lady has a birth-
mark on her thigh.
On his return he reports that he has won and
produces the evidence. When the husband hears
it, he withdraws confused and very credulous,
and having conducted his wife to his manor
house he throws her into the water. She is res-
cued, and having exchanged her dress for male
attire goes into a monastery, is converted, and
having behaved herself there in an edifying man-
ner she is given by the abbot to the king as
almoner, and performs her duties willingly and
very acceptably. One day while distributing alms
she sees her husband among the poor people. She
takes him aside, addresses some kind words to him
and asks his history. He relates it to her and
10 The "nephew or cosyn" corresponds to the servant
in Decameron and Cymbelinc.
11 P. 499 fl. Paris's study includes modern as well as
medieval versions.
tells her in confidence that the thing which gives
him most pain is the thought of his cruel treat-
ment of his wife. Then she tells him what has
happened to her, and having obtained permission
of the king to return to her own country, and
having procured a horse and arms for her hus-
band, she returns to the court of the (first) king
in the fitting garb of woman and accuses the gal-
lant of treachery and of having used violence.
He denies on oath that he has ever seen her. She
then addressing the king says : ' ' Sir, grant me
justice, I pray, for he has traduced me, thru his
perfidy my husband lost his estate, and I was
forced into exile." The treacherous gallant is
condemned to be hanged, the husband's estate is
restored to him, and she returns with him to their
home.
While there are a number of striking points of
similarity between this Tours MS. story and that of
Worcester MS. 172, it is very evident, I think,
that neither of them is derived immediately from
the other. In this connection the following dif-
ferences are significant : (1) The Worcester ver-
sion is one of the few tales of the cycle in which
the scene of action is laid mainly in Rome." (2)
The deceived and disappointed man does not at-
tempt to drown his wife, but she is cast out of her
native city as an adulteress. (3) The wife escapes
to Alexandria disguised as a man, and there be-
comes the confidential adviser of the king." (4)
Her great ability as statesman at Alexandria
becomes known at the Roman court, and the
young, inexperienced emperor sends for her to
assist him in reducing the affairs of his realm to
peace and order. (5) There (i. e., at Rome) she
accidentally meets both her husband and the vil-
lainous gallant, with the former of whom she is
reconciled, while she causes the latter to be justly
punished.
The time limit of the wager is the same, fifteen
days, in both stories, and I think these are the
only known members of the cycle in which this
number of days is stipulated.
The birthmark feature occurs in many of the
22 Also in Cymbcline and the Miracle de Oton, Boy d'Es-
pagne (cf. Ander's Shakespeare's Books, p. 60 f.) ; on the
scene of action generally see Ohle, 54 f.
13 This feature appears in other versions of the tale, but
it ii not present in that of the Toun MS.
222
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 7.
tales, and its character and location are of great
interest. It is generally a flower (violet or rose),
a mole, a wart, or a bunch of hair, which appears
on or near one of the lady's breasts, or on one of
her thighs, or sometimes on one shoulder.34 But
no other known story describes the birthmark as
a " vernacle in signe," which we are told was
located " an hand and an half from the kne unto
the right hipe." The birthmark figures in so
many" of these medieval tales that we must
believe it originated very early in the genesis of
the cycle. It does not occur, I think, in any of
those tales in which the plot hinges on substitu-
tion and mutilation. But the use of the ' ' slave
brand" to mark the entrapped suitors of the
' ' lady with the lotus flower " in an oriental
(Cashmere) tale of Soma Deva 26 suggests at least
a remote connection between mutilation " and
birth-marks.
W. H. HDLME.
Western Reserve University.
Pedro S&nchez by D. JOSE M. DE PEBEDA, with
Introduction, Notes and Vocabulary, by RALPH
EMERSON BASSETT. Ginn and Co., 1908.
During the past few years a distinct advance in
text-editing has been marked by the appearance of
a number of admirably edited volumes, several of
which are fortunately in Spanish. The service
rendered by such works to this kind of scholar-
ship— for text-editing ought to merit such a title
14 Cf. Ohle, 16 f. On a possible origin for the birthmark
feature in these tales, see Ohle, p. 58.
K The birthmark is a violet in Le Roman de la riolette
(ed. Michel, Paris, 1834) ; a rose in Ouillaume de Dole
(ed. Servois, Societe des Anciens Textes Franqais, 1893 ; cf.
Todd, Publ. Mod. Jjang. Assoc., n, 107 ff. ) ; a wart sur-
rounded by a tuft of golden hairs beneath the left breast
(Decameron, 9th story, nnil Day) ; "a mole cinque-spot-
ted" (Oymbeline) ; a lock of hair on the left shoulder
(Eufemia. Comedy by Lope de Eueda, 16th cent., cf.
Paris, p. 491) ; a strawberry on the shoulder ( Contes Men-
tonaii, Paris, 497) ; three grains of coffee on the thigh (Mos-
lema and Rasimi, Paris, 523) ; a small black wart on the
left arm ( Ein liepliche histori und imhrheit von vir Kaufmen-
dern, cf. Von der Hagen, in, p. ciii).
"Von der Hagen, HI, p. Ixxxivf. ; E, Kohler, Zuder
Erzahlung Adams wn Cobsam, Jahrb. f. rom. u. engl. Lilt.,
Yin, 61 f.
" See Parw, p. 609, footnoU 2.
— cannot be overestimated, inasmuch as they re-
move from it the stigma of amateurishness due to
the productions of inexperienced and over-eager
editors. Heretofore, we have unfortunately con-
sidered text-editing as a somewhat scornful hack-
work left to the tyro ; and, as a result of this atti-
tude, we have not a small number of texts that
certainly deserve no better qualification. In the
midst of so much around us to condemn, it is
therefore with pleasure that we welcome any text-
book like the present one which is worthy of high
commendation, deserving a place among our best-
edited Romance texts.
The purpose of the book, as summarily set forth
in the Preface and in the Introduction to the
Vocabulary, is two-fold : in the first place, a cul-
tural one by means of a notable work dealing with
modern Spanish society in its most classical spirit ;
and, secondly, a linguistic one, by taking a model
text as the basis for careful language study in ele-
mentary or intermediate classes with all possible
annotation for the realization of this intention. In
each respect Pereda presents uncommonly strong
advantages. He is the embodiment of the Spanish
temperament to a degree hardly equalled by any
of his contemporaries, the personification, so to
speak, of Spanish sentiments and ideals ; while,
at the same time, as the heir of the best literary
traditions of classical Spain he has produced a
quality of work serving as the model of the castizo
in Spanish expression.
Pereda is also a striking example of an author
whose personality is so completely merged into
his work that the significance of the latter is
missed without a full knowledge of the former as
reflected in his literary output in its entirety. It
is obvious, then, that an editor of a work of Pereda
must be one who is capable of demonstrating the
vital relationship that exists between the author's
personality and the honesty, the sincerity, and,
especially, the finish and elegance characterizing
his literary expression. Furthermore, any text —
and particularly one of an author like Pereda —
serving as a linguistic model loses its chief raison
d'etre unless it be made the means of emphasizing
the important characteristics of the language. To
perform this double task, the qualifications of long
experience and patient observation are necessary ;
and, apparently in this instance, the editor fulfills
all requirements.
November, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
223
The Introduction has aimed to present those
salient traits of the author necessary for the proper
appreciation of his work either as a whole or in
isolated volumes. For this reason it is divided
into three parts : first, the study of Pereda's work
as the reflection of his literary personality ; next,
a summary of the leading events of each volume
with a commentary — a proceeding justifiable by
the fact that Pereda's works are destined to
become a part, so far as we can judge at present,
of the permanent body of Spanish classics — ; and,
finally, a sketch of the last century of Spanish
politics, which is absolutely indispensable for any
intelligent reading of Pedro Sanchez and which is
nowhere else accessible in so brief a form. This
first part of the work contains a considerable
amount of original material, as, for example, con-
cerning Pereda's life and work, which it is to be
regretted that the editor did not see fit to publish
first in some learned review. As such material is
rarely expected in a text, the ordinary scholar
may not be cognizant of its existence unless his
attention is directed to it in some way.
It is also to be regretted that the editor was
obliged to abridge the Spanish text. Such sur-
gery, unfortunately too frequent in dealing with
foreign works, is always to be feared. Yet it is
more pardonable in regard to Spanish fiction
which is usually so bulky that only through some
sort of a reduction can a novel be rendered avail-
able for class use with the editorial accessories
needed. Furthermore, in a volume like the
present one, a skillful abridgment is a distinct
gain, inasmuch as it minimizes for the learner's
mind the danger of congestion from the display
of 'an overassortment of narrative facts along with
the other demands upon his attention. Pereda's
better known works, such as Sotileza and Penas
arriba, present almost insuperable difficulties for
such treatment. But Pedro Sanchez, which pos-
sesses the broadest human interest and most per-
manent elements of vitality of any of Pereda's
works, lends itself readily to a reduction that
seeks to retain the movement while dismissing
characters and incidents de second plan. Yet it
cannot be denied that all the accessories are neces-
sary to make the complete picture effective to the
trained mind provided with a vision capable of
embracing all the details and understanding their
relations to one another.
The Notes deal either with historical and social
matter specifically called forth by a given occasion
in the text or with explanatory matter difficult, or
too long, to classify in the Vocabulary. With
regard to this last feature of the work — i. e., the
Vocabulary — to which the editor has given espe-
cial emphasis, the question immediately arises
whether it is at all necessary in an advanced text.
Our answer would probably be in the negative, if
we were concerned with French, in which good
dictionaries abound. But with regard to Spanish
where no thoroughly satisfactory dictionary — not
even in the Castilian itself — is yet available, such
a feature seems almost imperative in every text.
Besides, an author whose vocabulary is as rich and
varied — at times, even exotic — as that of Pereda
requires a more special explanation than is found
in the ordinary dictionary. Furthermore, in this
particular case, the ingenious use of cross-refer-
ences is not only of great assistance to both the
teacher and student, but will merit the consider-
ation of the future lexicographer of Spanish.
Into the Notes and Vocabulary have slipped—
quite unavoidably from the peculiar nature and
inception of the task — some slight mistakes which
doubtless prevent the completed work from ful-
filling in all respects the good intentions of the
builder in harmony with its imposing outlines.
These blemishes, though not of much importance,
are to be honestly and candidly noted :
Page vii. The appearance of the page would be
greatly improved by the omission of the long series
of "its." P. xix, 1. 10. Would it not be more
exact to say ' ' about the end of the seventeenth
century," inasmuch as some of Calderou's best
work appeared after 1650? P. xix, 11. 21, etc.
Although published after several of Pereda's
works, did not Pepita Jimenez establish the type
of the modern Spanish novel to the world in gen-
eral? (Cf. FitzmaurSce-Kelly, Span. Lit., 1898,
pp. 387-8.) P. xxxvi, 1. 1. The figure 1 after
"blandishments" belongs doubtless to p. xxxv,
1. 26. P. xxxix, 1. 2. Inez should be Ines. P.
Ixxxviii, 1. 25. Alfonso XIII should read Alfonso
XII. P. 1, 1. 1. As an argument in favor of the
little recognized two-fold nature of pueblo as com-
posed of town proper and outlying comarca, cf. p.
«5, 1. 10, las mieses del pueblo. P. 10, 1. 18. Siendo
muy de tenerse en cuenta : while quite clear in sense
a satisfactory phraseology is not easy to produce
224
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 7.
from the vocabulary data (cf. ser). It would be
well to make a note, as, for ex., " it Is well worth
bearing in mind." P. 11, 1. 18. This much-
needed explanation of the invariable lo in juxta-
position with a variable adjective might be im-
proved in clearness. P. 40, 11. 32-33. The word-
ing of the note would imply that the lucero del
alba was the victim of the cesantias of which D.
Serafin complains, whereas, in reality, the lucero
is referred to as the dispenser of them. P. 67, 1.
16. The editor's language in regard to the Clarin
seems a little too severe. However frothy its pol-
itics might have been, Matica (p. 72, 11. 2-13)
calls it a "journal of good business methods and
high literary standing." P. 72, 1. 7. " Quite as
well " rather "the best that can be." In regard
to the Vocabulary, the following omissions have
been noted : trashumante (p. 6, 1. 23), vinculo
(p. 11, 1. 32), hiriendo (p. 13, 1. 6), centella (p.
21, 1. 25), tapieeria (p. 48, 1. 16), sobrado (p.
66, 1. 25), aduana (p. 62, 1. 19), armario (p.
73, 1. 27). "Just as" for asi como (p. 60, 1.
16) does not appear anywhere. Under cargo,
the expression hacerse cargo de (p. 5, 1. 4 ; p. 56,
1. 23), "to become aware of, to realize," is not
recorded. Under cuarto, the value of ' ' about 6
cents" should read "about 6 mills." Under
quitar, we find quita, inter]., "God forbid!",
for 148, 1. 3; rather "nonsense! go away!"
The meaning of higa should be made to read :
"fig (contemptuously — the fruit is higo~)," etc.
As will be readily seen, these are errors of com-
mission and omission that naturally find their way
into a first edition. It is to be hoped that the
editor and publishers — who, by the way, are to be
congratulated on the typographical beauty and
compactness of the book —will see to it that in the
second edition these slight improvements are
made so as to render the work as nearly perfect
as possible.
JOHN L. GERIG.
Columbia University.
CORRESPONDENCE.
HONOR TO WHOM HONOR is DUE.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — In the September number of Harpers'
Monthly Magazine appears a criticism of Shakes-
peare's Antony and Cleopatra by Mr. James
Douglas. This unfortunately does not keep up
to the level of the earlier reviews of the series, by
Swinburne. One-fourth of the article is devoted
to the word-music of "the purple patch" descrip-
tion of Cleopatra's meeting Antony on the river
Cydnus. Mr. Douglas talks for three columns of
the wonderful combinations of "liquids" and
' ' open vowels ' ' and so on ; but he does not men-
tion the fact that the passage is taken from North's
Plutarch with very little change. If he had con-
sidered the entire description, he would have
found it almost word for word in Plutarch. I
quote the selection given by Mr. Douglas, and
then the passage from North's Plutarch, under-
lining the words taken directly from North :
"The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne,
Burn'd on the water : the poop was beaten gold ;
Purple the sails, and so perfumed that
The winds were love-sick with them ; the oar* were silver,
Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made
The water which they beat to follow faster
As amorous of their strokes."
(Act ii, Sc. ii, 11. 196-202.)
' ' She disdained to set forward otherwise, but
to take her barge in the riuer of Cydnus, the
poope whereof was of gold, the sailes of purple,
and the owers of siluer, which kept stroke in
rowing after the sound of the musicke of flutes,
howboyes, cytherns, vyolls, and such other in-
struments as they played vpon in the barge ....
others tending the tackle and ropes of the barge,
out of the which there came a wonderfull passing
sweete sauor of perfumes that perfumed the
wharfes side." — North's Plutarch, 1595, from
Furness's Antony and Cleopatra, p. 390.
Shakespeare changed the word-music of prose
into the word-music of poetry, but he did not
originate the music nor create the picture.
Mr. Douglas's other criticisms add little to the
appreciation of Shakespeare's power. He shows
how Shakespeare' s delineation of Cleopatra's char-
acter differs from that of Plutarch ; but this we
all could have read in Prof. Ferrero's Greatnest
and Decline of Rome.
JAMES HUGH MOFFATT.
Philadelphia.
November, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
225
AN UNPRINTED VERSION OF " A CRISTEMASSE
SONG."
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — Among the beautiful carols of the Vir-
gin and her Child, published by Dr. Dyboski from
Richard Hill's Commonplace-book,1 there is none
more touching than the Gloria in Excelsis, as it
might be called. The dialogue between the holy
mother and her son, carried through eleven stan-
zas, depicts the heart-wrung Maiden, distraught
at the grief of her Child, learning for the first
time of the sorrows that are in store. At the
same time there ring above this poignant sorrow
the joyous notes of the angels singing in heaven.
"The poem," says Professor Padelford," "por-
trays the crushing grief of the Virgin with the
na'ive fidelity and tenderness characteristic of
medieval workmanship. ' '
It needs no excuse, therefore, if I call the at-
tention of students of the period, and particularly
of the editors of future carols, to a manuscript
containing the first stanzas of this carol, in an
unnoticed version decidedly better than that pub-
lished by Dr. Dyboski. This MS., Laud 683, is
probably not later than 1460, and it therefore
antedates the Hill version by at least seventy
years. Its version corrects that of the worthy
song-loving freeman of Grocers Hall, to an extent
that makes printing the whole text advisable. I
therefore subjoin a literal transcript of the Laud
copy, which is on the last folio, 105b, an odd
page left vacant. The leaves which contained
the rest of the song, and possibly other carols,
are lost. As is customary in such texts the
refrain is given as a heading, and not repeated
in full thereafter.
HERE BEQYNNETH A CRISTEMASSE SONG.
[fol 105b
Synge we with angelis. gloria in excelsis °
A babe is born, our blysse to brynge,1
A maide ther was dyd 2 lully and synge ;
1 Early English Text Society, Extra Series, CI (1908).
The poem is printed pp. 21-23. It has also been printed
by Fltigel in Festschrift fur R. Hildebrand, 1894, and in
Anglia, xxvt, 247 (1903). Prof. Holthausen corrected
his text in Anglia, xvn, 444.
1 Cambridge History of English Literature, II, 382. He
seems ignorant of this Laud text.
She saide : " dere sone, leve thy wepynge,
Thy flader ys the kyng of blys."
Synge we, [with angelis, gloria in excelsis].
" Lullay," she sange and saide3 also,
' ' My nowne * dere sone, why artow 5 wo ?
Haue I not do that* I sholde do ?
Thy grevaunce, telle me what it la ! "
Synge we, [etc.]
" Nay, modir,7 for this 8 wepe I nought,
But for the wo that shal be wrought
To me, er9 I mankynde haue bought :
Was neuer no lo sorwe so lyk, I wys." "
Synge we, [etc.]
" A, pore dere sone ! 1J telle me not soo,
Thow art my child, I haue no moo ;
Sholde I se men myn owne sone slo ?
Alias ! dere child,13 what menyth u this?"
Synge we, [etc. ]
" Yis, modir, myn handis,15 that ye here I6 se,
They " shal be nailled to 18 a tre,
My ffeet also fastened " schul be ;
That man shal wepe that seeth *° this."
Synge we, [etc.]
"Alias, dere child ! " hard ys myn " happe,
To se my sone that sook *3 my pappe,
His handys, or " feet, that I sholde lappe,*5
Be nailled so sore,26 that neuer dyd amys."
Synge we [with angelis, gloria in excelsis].
Variants in Hill's version : Refrain °. Now synge (in
every case) . This points to the dropping of final -e as a
song syllable, in Hill's version. 1. to blys us brynge.
Holthausen corrected to " us blis to brynge"; but Dy-
boski defended Hill, and said brynge might be subjunc-
tive. 2. I hard a mayd. 3. said & songe. 4. Myn own.
5. art bow. 6. as. 7. Nay dere moder. 8. |>e. 9. or.
10. arm. Hill. 11. ywis. 12. Pesse dere sone. 13. mr
dere son! 14. menys. 15. My hondis, moder. 16. may.
17. om. Hill. 18. vnto. 19. all so fast. 20. Men shall
wepe that shall se. 21. A, dere son! 22. my. 23.
sokid. 24. his. 25. dide wrappe. 26. Be so naylid.
HENRY NOBLE MACCRACKEN.
WRITERS WITH NEW IDEAS.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS :— When a writer or speaker is struck
powerfully by a new idea, he generally shows
marvelous ingenuity in working it into his next
production. I have found what seems to me a
curious instance of this often exemplified tendency.
In Les Annales Politiques et Litteraires for
March 28th, the French critic fimile Faguet re-
226
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 7.
views Charles Regismanset' s collection of epigrams
entitled " Les Contradictiona." The reviewer is
especially struck by the warning :
' ' Ne dis pas :
" — Je n'aime pas la danse.
' ' Mais :
" — Je danse mal."
He applies this bit of searching criticism to
various phases of life, and quotes it repeatedly in
the course of his review.
In the April number of the Quarterly Review,
the hundredth anniversary of Tennyson's birth is
commemorated by an appreciation of the English
poet from the pen of the same French critic. In
the course of a rapid summary of the chief facts
of Tennyson' s life, Faguet says :
" Apres quelques changements de r&ideuce il
se fixe a Farringford, dans 1'Ile de Wight, s'y
com plait ety caresse son bonheur, ne s'ecartant de
ce lieu que rarement pour aller a Londres qu'il
aime pen ou plutdt oil il s'aime peu.
R. T. HOUSE.
Southwestern State Normal School, Weatherford, Okla.
"NEVER LESS ALONE THAN WHEN ALONE."
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — In connection with the comment in
Modern Language Notes for February and April
by Professor Cook and Professor Allen on the
source of the apothegm, ' ' Never less alone than
when alone," I venture to call attention to the
opening sentences of Cowley's essay, " Of Soli-
tude," which are as follows : —
" ' Nunquam minus solus, quam cum solus ' is
now become a very vulgar saying. Every man
and almost every boy for these seventeen hundred
years has had it in his mouth. But it was at first
spoken by the excellent Scipio, who was without
question a most worthy, most happy, and the
greatest of all mankind. His meaning, etc."
Professor Allen's citation of Cicero's De Officiis
(3. 1) apparently determined the source of the
apothegm for English literature, but Cowley's
testimony to its longstanding popularity seems
worth quoting.
W. F. BREWER.
Montana Agricultural College.
LITERATURE OF MELANCHOLY.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — In his Beginnings of the English Ro-
mantic Movement (p. 91), Professor Phelps says
regarding the ' ' literature of melancholy ' ' which
flourished in the middle and latter half of the
eighteenth century, ' ' Of course its original in-
spiration from II Penseroso is indisputable."
Professor Beers, in his more extended work on
the same subject, is guarded in his statements but
seems to think Milton's poem was an important
influence upon this so-called " graveyard poetry."
Altho one or the other of these opinions has
been accepted by most students of eighteenth cen-
tury literature, both seem to me to be based upon
a confusion of several quite different things and a
misunderstanding of Milton's poem.
In the first place, the fondness of the eighteenth
century for gloom found expression in a number
of notable works which were entirely uninfluenced
by II Penseroso, for example, Young's Night
Thoughts (1742-8), Blair's Grave (1745), and
the less known Night (1728) of Ralph in poetry,
and in prose James Harvey's Meditations among
the Tombs (1745-6). There is also a remarkable
expression of it as early as 1725 in a letter of the
poet Thompson's, "Now I imagine you seized
with a fine romantic kind of melancholy on the
fading of the year ; now I figure you wandering,
philosophical and pensive, amidst the brown, with-
ered groves, while the leaves rustle under your
feet, the sun gives a farewell, parting gleam . . .
Then again when the heavens wear a more gloomy
aspect, the winds whistle, and the waters spout."
It seems pretty clear, accordingly, that II Pen-
seroso did not furnish the original inspiration for
the "literature of melancholy. " To what degree
did it influence that literature ?
About 1740 Milton's octosyllabics became very
popular and furnished a model for hundreds of
poems. It would be natural to suppose, if II Pen-
seroso were closely connected with the poetry of
gloom, that a large number of these imitations
would be of a melancholy character and that many
of them would breathe the clammy air of the
tomb. This is very far from being the case. My
recollection of the four hundred and more poems
November, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
227
of this type that I have found is that there are very
few gloomy pieces among them, far fewer, I am
certain, than among the poems written at the time
in other forms. II Penseroso seems to have been
scarcely more popular and no more imitated than
its joyous companion piece. Poems on solitude,
contemplation, and similar subjects connected with
a love of retirement and seclusion are, to be sure,
frequently found and were without doubt influ-
enced by Milton's poem. But these themes are
not gloomy any more than is II Penseroso— which,
it should be observed, is not II Melancholia. They
praise a quiet, contemplative life and they praise it,
as Milton does, because it seems to them the hap-
piest life and not because they are deprest or
because they enjoy gloom. It is a far cry from
the mood of II Penseroso to that of the Night
Thought? or of such passages as the following
from Warton's Pleasures of Melancholy :
But when the world
Is clad in Midnight's raven-colour' d robe,
Mid hollow charnal let me watch the flame
Of taper dim, shedding a livid glare
Oe'r the wan heaps ; while airy voices talk
Along the glimm'ring wall ; or ghastly shape
At distance seen, invites with beck'ning hand
My lonesome steps, thro' the far-winding vaults.
Professor Beers apparently uses the terms "ele-
giac mood," "love of retirement and seclusion,"
' ' low spirits, ' ' and ' ' Pensive Meditation ' ' inter-
changeably (Eng. Romanticism XVIII Cent., p.
162), and accordingly, it would seem, groups all
the poetry of the mid-eighteenth century which
exhibits any of these under what he calls ' ' the
II Penseroso school." Then, too, tho he says,
' ' There were various degrees of somberness from
the delicate gray of the Wartons to the funereal
sable of Young's Night Thoughts and Blaire's
Grave," Professor Beers fails to call attention to
the important fact that the sombreness of one poet
differs radically from that of another in kind. We
have, for instance, the real tho far from intense
melancholy of Gray, the exaggerated love of gloom
of Thomas Warton and Walpole — which is genu-
ine only as it comes from a healthy enjoyment of
ghosts, mysteries and Gothic architecture, — and
the fondness for a retired, studious life which is
exprest in // Penseroso and was exemplified by
Milton's happy years at Horton. The love of
gloom which characterized much of the literature
of the middle and later part of the eighteenth
century belongs with the fondness for the Middle
Ages, for ruins, and for wild nature. It was a
part of the romantic and rather sentimental ten-
dencies of the time ; it is alien to the mood of II
Penseroso and would have been quite the same if
Milton's poem had never been written.
RAYMOND D. HAVENS.
The University of Rochester.
THE MEANING OF VITA NUOVA.
To the Editors oj Mod. Lang. Notes.
gIR8 : — The word Nuova in the title of Dante's
famous opuscule is usually interpreted to mean
either 'youthful,' or 'new' in the sense of regen-
erate through his love for Beatrice. Witte in the
Prolegomena to his edition pretty effectually dis-
poses of the former interpretation but accepts the
latter. It has always seemed to me unsatisfactory
to connect the idea of regeneration through love
with a nine year old boy, even after making all
possible allowances for the precocity of genius,
and it has long seemed to me that the word might
bear another meaning, which, so far as I am
aware, has not been proposed. This meaning is
that of 'strange,' or 'mystic.'1 It must be re-
membered that Dante gives the title iu Latin,
and that novus has at times the sense of ' strange,'
' never before experienced, ' while, so far as I
know, it does not connote the idea of regeneration.
In Italian, too, examples of nuovo = strange, are
plentiful. The life which Dante describes ia cer-
tainly a mystic one, in which by meditation and
certain conduct he attains an -esoteric knowledge
of love. I think this is true whether we regard
Beatrice as wholly human, wholly allegorical, or
partly one and partly the other.
1 It is true that Witte pointed out the sense of meravi-
glioso, slraordinario, which nuovo and novella sometimes
have, especially in poetic language ( Anmerkungen zu den
Gedichlen der V. N., in D. A.'s Lyrische Gedichte iibers. u.
erl. von Kannegiesser u. Wilte, Leipz., 1853), but he does
not interpret this meaning as equivalent to 'mystic,' nor
does he adopt it as explaining the title ; also that Rossetti
uses the word ' strange ' as a translation of nuovo in the
text, but he expressly adheres to the translation New Life
(in the sense of regenerate life), calling this, however, the
more ' mystical ' interpretation (Early Italian Poels, Part
n, Introduction).
228
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, JVb. 7.
There are fifteen examples in the Vita Nuova of
the use of the word nuovo, beside one of the super-
lative novissimo (see Sheldon- White, Concordanza,
pp. 417, 420-1). Of these sixteen instances it
seems to me that nine lend themselves readily to
the interpretation which I have suggested, as
follows :
Sonnet 7, line 3.
Chapter xv, line 1.
Chapter xvm, line 17.
Sonnet 11, line 14.
Canzone 2, line 13 of stanza 1.
Chapter xxiv, line 10.
Canzone 3, line 5 of stanza 5.
Chapter xxxix, line 1.
Sonnet 25, line 3.
In the cases of Chapter xxxi, line 8, and Son-
net 22, 1. 10, I think the interpretation is at least
possible.
It is not my intention to elaborate here this
suggestion, by reference to Dante's other works
or otherwise ; I merely give it for what it may be
worth.
Two other questions : — Was there any connec-
tion in Dante's mind between his use of nova in
the title and the dolee stil nuovo, which treats
mystically of love, or with the recurrent mystical
number nove, so similar in sound ? As he used a
symbolism of numbers and colors, why not a
symbolism of sound ? (of. Primavera).
University of Toronto.
F. J. A. DAVIDSON.
Ax OBSCURE ALLUSION IN HERDEE.
Supplementary Note.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — In the Publications of the Modern Lan-
guage Association (Vol. xxn, pp. 550 f.), I sug-
gested a possible explanation of a passage in Her-
der for which Suphan failed to find any authority
in ancient literature. Herder wrote ' : " Der
wahre Tempel des Geschmaeks ist nicht eine
Orientalische Pagode, ein Ruhesitz, wo man als
am Ende seiner Wallfahrt sich niederlasst ; er ist
vielmehr wie der Tempel des Marcellus gebauet ;
1 Werke, ed. Suphan, in, p. 382.
die Pforte des Geschmaeks, auch in Miinzen, ein
Durchgang zur Wissenschaft : zur Wissenschaft,
welche es wolle." I thought this description
might be a vague reminiscence of Moses Men-
delssohn. It appears, however, that Mendels-
sohn ' took the description from Winckelmann,
from whom Herder might just as well have got it.
Winckelmann, attempting to show allegory even
in the architecture of the ancients, thus interprets
the temple of Marcellus ' : " Noch gelehrter war
der Bau des Tempels der Tugend und der Ehre,
welchen Marcellus unternahm. Da er die Beute,
welche er in Sicilien gemachet hatte, hierzu be-
stimmete, wurde ihm sein Vorhaben durch die
Oberpriester, deren Gutachten er vorher einholete,
untersaget, unter dem Vorwande, dass ein e i n-
ziger Tempel nicht zwo Gottheiten fassen
konnte. Marcellus liess also zwei Tempel nahe
an einander bauen, (Plutarch. Marcell. [c. 28.])
dergestalt, dass man durch den Tempel der
Tugend gehen musste, um in den Tempel der
Ehre zu gelangen ; um dadurch zu lehren, dass
man allein durch Ausubung der Tugend zur
wahren Ehre gefiihret werde. Dieser Tempel
war vor der Porta Capena (Vulpii Latium, t. 2.
1. 2. c. 20, p. 175)." Mendelssohn's comment
seems not injudicious : " Die Bedeutung ist offen-
bar, allein die Unternehmung selbst scheint allzu
sehr von dem Geiste der Baukunst entfernt zu
sein. Die Beschreibung eines solchen Gebiiudes
macht den Sinn der Allegoric weit anschaulicher,
als das Gebaude selbst ; ein untriigliches Kenn-
zeichen, dass der Einfall rnehr zur Dichtkuust
als zur Baukuust gehort." But Mendelssohn's
criticism is directed against Winckelmann, not
against Plutarch, who says nothing about the re-
lation in which the buildings stood to each other.
That the builder's idea was quite so allegorical as
Winckelmann assumed, is very doubtful. But
Herder apparently accepted Winckelmann' s view,
and in the passage in question referred to him
rather than to Mendelssohn.
Harvard University.
W. G. HOWARD.
^ fiber die Hauptgrundsatze, Ges. Schriften, Lpz., 1843,1,
p. 298.
3 Erlaulenmg def Oedanken ran der Nachahmung der
griechischen Werke, Sdmtliche Werke, ed. Eiselein, Do-
nauoschingen, 1825, I, p. 197.
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES
VOL. XXIV.
BALTIMORE, DECEMBER, 1909.
No. 8.
THE WOOD OF BIRNAM.
In his notes to the Variorum edition of Mac-
beth, Dr. Furness has collected much evidence in
favor both of the mythical and the military sources
of Malcolm and Si ward's device of utilising the
trees of Birnam Forest in their attack on the
castle of Dunsinane ; the mythical sources, how-
ever, predominate.
The following is a summary of the evidence of
the mythical origin of the incident : —
Prof. Schwarz, in his Notabilia, speaks of a
certain king, who together with a daughter of
miraculous gifts, is besieged in his castle by King
Griinewald ; the latter on May-day captures the
castle by means of the moving forest scheme.
2. Grimm, in his German Popular Tales, and
J. G. Hitter ascribe the same design to Frede-
gunda, who triumphs over her enemy in this way
and secures the victory for her son Clothaire.
This version differs from others, in that the queen
attaches bells to the horses' heads, so as to further
mislead the enemy, who think their own horses
are browsing among the trees.
3. Simrock, in his German Mythology, shows
that the legend 'originated in the German reli-
gious custom of May-festivals, or Summer-wel-
comings, and that King 'Griinewald' is origin-
ally a Winter-giant, whose dominion ceases when
the May-feast begins and the green-wood draws
nigh.'
4. Halliwell states that the same incident oc-
curs in the old romance of Alexander the Great,
found in the library at Lincoln cathedral, Alex-
ander overcoming Darius and taking Susa by
storm.
The King Griinewald story which Simrock
considers to be ' the mythical basis of the Mac-
beth legend, ' it may be pointed out, seems closely
related to the custom, now fast dying out, in pro-
vincial England of celebrating May day by a
mumming representation of Jack-in-the-Green.
The late W. Owen Pughe believed this practice
to be bound up with a legendary source, since in
Welsh mythology Nelvas disguises himself with
green boughs, and lies in waiting for Queen Gui-
nevere as she is returning from the hunt.
On the other hand, much may be said as to the
actual military derivation of the episode in Mac-
beth. Dr. Furness, in his Notes to the play, pp.
325-7, cites the following instances : —
1. An Arabic legend quoted by Jastrow in
Folk- Lore, 1890, which connects the story with
the generation subsequent to Mahomet, and which
is the oldest recorded version. Jastrow says :
' I do not think that scholars will hit upon Arabia
as the final source. Woods and forests are not
the characteristic features of Arabia .... It is
likely that we shall eventually be led to India, the
home of so many tales that have wandered all over
the world.'
2. Saxo Grammaticus relates that Hakon made
use of the same stratagem in his fight with Sigurt.
3. In 1332 Patrick, Earl of March, after the
battle of Dupplin, practised these arts in a modi-
fied form in an attack on Perth by ordering his
troops to cut faggots from the wood of Lamerkine
with which to fill up the ante-mural fosses of the
city. It is quite possible, Furness thinks, from the
close proximity of Dunsinane to Perth that Wyn-
toun, in his Chronicle, may have utilised the
story of Lamerkine for the purposes of embellish-
ment, as it is very generally deemed to be histor-
ical ; while the incident in Macbeth rests on very
doubtful grounds.
To these instances may be added the one, re-
ferred to by Dr. W. E. Roloff, in his letter
in the Modern Language Notes, xxi, 192, of the
people of Ditmarschen outwitting the Count of
Bocklenborg by the same means. There is still
another occurrence of quite recent date that
belongs to this category. In 1904, it will be
recalled, the Japanese commander, perhaps on
the strength of a Shakespearean reminiscence,
when approaching the Russian entrenchments on
230
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, JVo. 8.
the western bank of the Yalu, took the precaution
to erect a series of trellis works made of bamboo
boughs, by means of which their numbers and
proximity were materially concealed : the result
being that a heavy cannonade was opened upon
the Russians from this masked position, which
speedily led to the victory of the Japanese.
In spite of the strong evidence adduced by
German critics of a mythical origin for the ' mov-
ing forest legend, ' I think it is safe to say that
the ruse attributed by Shakespeare to Malcolm
had its rise among purely military surroundings.
In Judges, IK, after a relation of the conquest
of Shechem by Abimelech, the natural son of
Gideon, and the sowing of it with salt, the Scrip-
tural narrative continues : —
' And when all the men of Shechem heard that,
they entered into a hold of the house of the god
Berith. And it was told that all the men of the
town of Shechem were gathered together. And
Abimelech got him up to Mount Zalmon, he and
all the people that were with him ; and Abime-
lech took an axe in his hand, and cut down the
bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on
his shoulder, and said unto the people that were
with him, ' ' What ye have seen me do, make
haste, and do as I have done." And all the
people likewise cut down every man his bought
and followed Abimelech, and put them to the
hold and set the hold on fire upon them ; so that
all the men of the town of Shechem died, also
about a thousand men and women. ' ( Vv. 46-9. )
The circumstances here related seem, in my
opinion, to give the clue to the real origin of the
incident as adapted to military purposes by dif-
ferent commanders. I take it that the happy
thought did not in the first instance suggest itself
to a leader of troops to provide his men with
branches of trees simply for the purpose of con-
cealment. That was a lucky afterthought. The
ultimate design arose from the far more natural
prompting, which barbarians have always evinced,
to call in the agency of fire to destroy the enemy' s
stronghold, when they were otherwise unable to
capture it, or could only capture it with great dif-
ficulty and loss of life. This would naturally lead
to the discovery that the branches borne to the end
of incendiarism became a potent means for other
purposes as well : such as hiding the advancing
man or filling up the insurmountable ditchway ;
besides affording a certain immunity from attack
at the same time. This is, I think, in brief, the
genesis of the Birnam Wood mode of attack.
Without pretending to attribute to Abimelech the
priority of its invention, it may probably be safe
to date back its inspiration to a very ancient and
remote past.
N. W. HILL.
Philadelphia, Pa.
BIBLIOGRAPHIE ZUR TECHNIK DES
NEUEREN DEUTSCHEN ROMANS. I.
Fur das grosse Interesse, welches das Studium
der Romantechnik neuerdings erregt, zeugt der
Umfang der vorliegenden Bibliographic, die nicht
einmal die Masse der Rezensionen einzelner Werke
und Autoren beriicksichtigt.
In Deutschland haben Schriftsteller und L/ite-
rarhistoriker spiiter als in England und Frank-
reich begonnen sich diesem Studium zu widmen.
Zum grossen Teil hat man die auslandische Tech-
nik nachgeahmt und das zwar bis auf den heutigen
Tag, so dass man vielerorts noch von einer spezi-
fisch deutschen Technik sich nicht zu reden ge-
traut. Unter einer Anzahl der bedeutendsten
gegenwiirtigen Romanschriftsteller, deren Gut-
achten hieriiber vom Unterzeichneten eingeholt,
ist die grosse Mehrzahl der Ansicht, dass es keine
spezifisch deutsche Technik gebe. Wie dem nun
sei, ob es eine spezifisch deutsche oder eine inter-
nationale Technik ist, man befasst sich mehr und
mehr darnit.
Die ersten, die sich in Deutschland mit der
eigentlichen Technik befassten, waren, wie das
auch ganz sachgemass scheint, die Romanschrift-
steller selbst, denn was Bodmer, Gottsched, Blan-
kenburg u. a. hieriiber gehandelt, ist ganz all-
gemein gehalten. Tiecks Arbeit iiber die Novelle,
Goethe und Schillers Abhandlungen iiber die
epische Kunst, die Romantiker, in neuerer Zeit
aber besonders Ludwig und Spielhagen, behandeln
Technisches.
Sodann begaben sich die Literarhistoriker an die
Geschichte des Romans. Es entstanden Werke wie
Cholevius, Bobertag, Eichendorff, Wolf, die ins-
December, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
231
gesammt nicht iiber geschiclitliche Zusummenfas-
sungen und zerstreute Bemerkungen hinauskamen.
Tiefer in die Probleme der Technik drangen
Ludwig und Spielhagen. In neuester Zeit, da das
Theoretisieren iiber die eigene Kunst allgemein
geworden, gibt es kaum einen Romanschriftsteller,
der nicht aueh iiber Technisches etwas verlauten
lasst. Auch darf man getrost sagen, dass das
Wertvollste fiber Technik von Schriftstellern
geschrieben worden ist.
Mielke bleibt das Verdienst als erster das ge-
samrate moderne Material zusammengetragen und
geordnet zu haben. Reborn und Keiter sind weni-
ger vollstandig und weniger brauchbar ; ersteres
Werk verha.lt sich gegen die neueren Richtungen
ablehnend, letzteres ist tendenzios gehalten.
Die neuerdings beliebte Behandlung von Ro-
mangruppen, so : Ritter- und Rauberromane,
Schelmenromane, Gespenstergeschichten, auch die
Behandlung von besonderen Themen, z. E. der
Verkehr im Roman, der Arzt im Roman, die
Ethik des Romans u. s. w. hat viel wertvolles her-
vorgebracht, ist auch in so fern gerateu als die Be-
waltigung des ganzen ungeheuren Materials dem
einzelnen beinahe unmoglich wird.
Auch auf hoheren Schulen wird gegenwartig
dies Studium eifrig betrieben, wiihrend noch vor
einem Jahrzehnt eiu Lehrer durch das Studium
der Romanliteratur in eigens dazu eingerichteten
Kursen in Gefahr kam als unwissenschaftlich ver-
schrieen zu werden.
Es ist ja wahr, dass das Studium der Roman-
technik wissenschaftlich keineswegs so fest be-
griindet ist, wie z. B. das der dramatischen Tech-
nik. Ein grosseres, zusammenfasseiides, regelndes
Werk iiber die Romantechnik steht noch aus.
Zur Voraussetzung muss es haben : Eine Uber-
sicht der gesamten Romanliteratur Deutschlands,
und z. T. der anderen Kulturstaaten. Dazu un-
mittelbare Kenntuis der Romankunst sowohl als
eine richtige klare Aufiassung der technischen
Probleme. Es soil eine Asthetik des Romans
werden, nicht ein Regelbuch fiir Anfanger.
Neuere Werke, die viel zu einem besseren Ver-
standnis der Romankunst beigetragen, und deren
Anordnung und Methode bei iihnliclien Versuchen
nicht ausser Aug gelassen werden darf, sind Rie-
mann und Miiller-Embs.
Dem wachsenden Interesse an dem Studium der
Romantechnik soil auch diese Bibliographic zu
Hilfe kornmen.
ZEITSCHKIFTEN-ABTIKEL.
Die Anordnung ist alphabetisch nach dem Inhalt der
Arbeiten. Was sonst nich untergebracht werden konnte,
ist unter deutscher Roman oder Technik gebracht worden.
Die Abkiirzungen fiir die Titel der Zeitschriften sind die
in den Jahresberichten fiir neuere deutsche Literatur-
geschichte gebriiuchlichen. Hinzugezogen sind nebst ge-
nanntem Werk, Diedrichs Bibliographic der Zeitschriften-
literatur, die Verzeichnisse der Universitatsschriften, die
teclmischen Zeitschriften u. a. m. Die allbekannten
Arbeiten iiber die Geschichte der deutschen Literatur, die
meistens auch etwas iiber den Roman enthalten, sind
nicht aufgefiihrt worden.
BBAUSEWETTER, A. Die Arbeit u. der fin de siecle Rc-
man. Pr. Jbb., 96. SS. 89-98.
ADAM. Der Arzt in derLitteratur. L. E., v. Sp. 1593 ff.
SOSNOSKY. Der Arzt im Roman. Oegw., 62. SS. 69-71.
(Behandelt H. v. Schullern, E. Harriot, Edith
Grafin Salburg.)
MOLADK. Arzt u. Krankheit im Roman u. Wirklichkeit.
Ttigl. Rs.,B.Xo. 165-7 ; 177.
ETTLINGER. Zur Asthetik des Romans. A.Zg.,B. 9. Marz
1892.
(Bnchtitel, a. u. Titel.)
FRIEDEMANN. Berlin im Roman. L. E. , x, 10.
KRUGER, H. A. Der neue deutsche Bildungsroman.
Westermanm Monatshefte. Nov., 1906, 257-72.
, Der moderne biographische Roman. 1903. Leipziger
Neueste Nachrichten. Beibl. No. 20.
MAURICE. The Detective in Fiction. Bookman, 15. SS.
231-6.
SCAPINELH. Vom neuen deutschen Roman. 1903. Qer-
mania. Wiss. Beilage, 47.
MEYER, R. M. Der Roman des neuen Kurses. 1900.
Zeit., 302.
C. BUSSE. Von deutscher Kritik u. vom deutschen Ro-
man. Deutsche Monatsschrift f. das gesammte Leben
der Gegmwart. Nov., 1901. 301-7.
A. BARTELS. Aufschwung des deutschen Romans. 1905.
Deutsche Zeitung, 23-4.
ZOLLING. Zur Geschichte des deutschen Romans. Oegw.,
39. 183-5.
M. HARDEN. Die Alten u. die Jungen im deutschen
Roman. Fzg. N. 120-1.
LIDA v. KHOKOW. American Characters in German
Novels. Atlantic Monthly, Dec., 1891.
LEVY-BRUHL. Le rornan contemporain et le naturalisms
en Allemagne. R. D. M., 110 ; 353-73.
MIELKE, H. Sudermann u. der moderne Roman. Aula,
i. 105-10.
HERBERT. Le roman allemand en 1901. La Revue, 1
Nov. 1901.
SPIELHAGEN. Recent German Fiction. N. Y. Independent,
1902.
232
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 8.
LOTHAR, E. Vom deutschen Boman. N. F. FT., 21.
Dez. 1893.
SCHWAN, E. Die Anfiinge des modernen Romans, (ttber
den Ursprung des Wortes Roman u. die Entwick-
lungsgeschichte der Gattung bis zur Renaissance. )
Pr.Jbb.,70. SS. 309-23.
ROBERTSON, J. G. The Beginnings of the German Novel.
Westmin.B., 142. SS. 183-95.
O. ERNST. Was unsere besseren Kreise lesen. (Nirnmt
Natalie v. Eschstruth aufs Korn. Aufziihlung
von Widerspriichen u. Fehlern.) N. Z., St., 2. SS.
698-704 ; 729-36 ; 762-8 ; 792-800.
LITZMANN. Zur Entwicklung des modernen deutschen
Romans. D. B., 2. SS. 293-308.
GERSCHMANN. Studie fiber den modernen Roman. 1894.
Programm des Bealgymnasiums Kiinigsberg.
V. MUTH. Die deutsche Dichtung in Osterreich von den
Ausklangen der Romantik bis zum Durchdringen
des Realismus. Programm Wiener-Ncustadt, 1896.
STUMCKE. Le roman allemand. B. P. L., 2. SS. 447-8.
, Vom deutschen Roman. N. L. Sll., 4. SS. 1-6.
SUDERMANN. tJber die litt. Wandlungen in Deutschland
Kw.,$. SS. 21-3.
NECKER, M. Aus der Erziihlungslitteratur. BlU. S,
556-9.
KRAUSS, R. Die Schwaben im Winkel. L. E., 1, SS.
138-57.
SCHLAF, J. Der neuere deutsche Roman. Kriiik, 14.
SS. 231-5.
BHUNETIERE. La litt. europeenne. B. D. M., 161. SS.
326-55.
ED. ROD. Le nouveau roman de M. Sudermann. B. D.
M., 128. S. 348-64.
FiJBST. Der deutsche Roman im 19. Jahrh. Bar, 26.
S. 141-3 ; 495-6 ; 511-2 ; 526-7 ; 529-30 ; 540-1.
, Die Entwicklung des deutschen Romans. Bar,
26. S. 31-35.
WEIQLER. Vom neuen Roman. Tag,B. 1901. No. 111.
, Der deutsche Roman im 19. Jahrhundert. Bevue des
Bevues, 1901. Nov. 1.
K. PROLL. A. Stifter, der Dichter des deutschen Boh-
merwaldes. Frag. Verlag des deulschen Vereins zur
Verbreitung gemeinniltziyer Kenntnisse. 17 SS.
, Contemponary German Novelists. Blackwood'slHag.,
June, 1892.
R. M. WERNER. Roman, Novelle u. Erziihlung. Asthe-
tische Randbemerkungen. M. N. L. K., 1. S.
302-10.
, Der moderne Roman u. die christliche Weltan-
schauung. A. E. L. K. Z., 3-7.
BOTTICHEH. Der moderne deutsche Roman in seiner
litt. Entwicklung und Bedeutung. Neue C/mstoterpe,
32. S. 74-125.
M. LANDAU. Zur Entstehungsgeschichte des modernen
realistischen Romans. Presse. N. 211-2.
, Zur Technik des Romandialogs. L. E., in. No. 24
(1900-1. )
ETTLINOER. Der Dialog im raodernen Roman. Oegen-
warl. S. 200-3.
J. G. WAHNBK. Die Anfiinge der bayrischen Dorfge-
schichte. A. Zg., B. N. 83.
(Siehe a. u. Landleben. )
LASSER. Die Dorfgeschichte in der deutsch. Litteratur.
Land, 11. SS. 157-9 ; 162-3.
, Die Dorfgeschichte in der modernen Litt. M. BU. J.
D. L., 6. (Vgl. L. E. 2 S. 927.)
LOTHAR. Drama u. Roman, f^age, 2. SS. 639-40.
BOKNSTEIN. Die Ehe im modernen Roman. Mschr. N. L.
K., 2. SS. 143-54 ; 224-6.
LANDAU. Ehescheidungen in der erzlihlenden Litteratur.
Oeg.,55. SS. 360-3.
, Der empfindsame Roman. Miinchner Allg. Zg., B.
54. 1904.
JALOUX. Der moderne Roman in England. Zeit, 523.
DEIESMANS. Der Erziehungsroman. Litt. Echo, 1521-27.
1903.
, Der alte u. neue Erziehungsroman. Geg. ,13-8.
1904.
:, Erziehungs- u. Entwicklungsromane. 1905. Unser
Hausurzt. (Berlin) 47.
( Erziehungsromane, s. a. Lehrerromane. )
HEINE. Neuere Erziehungsromane. Pddagog. Warte,
706-10, 1905.
PORITZKY. Essayisten. Zeitgeist, No. 3-4. (Behandelt
den Essay als Kunstform mit Beriicksichtigung von
Brandes, Emerson, W. Pater, Maeterlinck, Ellen
Key u. Leo Berg. )
MULLER, A. v. Ethische Probleme im modernen Ro-
man. Augsb. Posl-Zg., B. N. 41.
BLENNERUASSET, LADY C. Die Ethik des modernen Ro-
mans. Comopolis, 3. SS. 238-48 ; 580-94.
J. FL4.CH. tJber die Entwicklung des exotischen Ro-
mans. L. E., 3. S. 409.
M. KRETZER. Vom Familienblattroman. L.E.,1. SS.
977-9.
MALREDER, ROSA. Familienlitteratur. Dokumente d.
Frauen, 2. SS. 543-50.
R. FDRST. Die verheiratete Frau im Roman. A. Zg.,
B. N. 75-76.
MIOMANDRE. La femme dans le roman contemporain.
Nouvelle Bevue, 12. S. 458.
, Tendenzcharakter des modernen Frauenromans.
Afonatsschr. Die Frau. 1903. 449-56.
INA v. BINZER. Die Frauenfrage im Roman. Kw.,
13.1- S. 91-5. (Die Marlitt zeigte was die Frau
kann. Das Hirn des Weibes ist unwichtig, die
Seele des Weibes ist das Neue in dem Frauenro-
man. )
HELLER. tJber den deutschen Frauenroman. Pad. Mo-
natshefle, Milwaukee, 1904.
BENZMANN. Vom neuen Frauenroman. Gegw., 63. SS.
261-4.
METER, R. M. Der mod. Frauenroman. Nation, 14-5.
1904.
TUSCHAK, H. Moderne Gefiihlsromane. NeueFr. Prase.
1905. (Wien. ) 12-13.
WOLF, W. Der Geistliche in der modernen Litt., (siehe
auch Pfarrer). L. E., 4. SS. 77-84; 155-62.
December, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
233
(Geschichtlicher Roman, s. u. Historischer Ro-
man.)
DIETRICH. Die Gespenstergeschichte in der deutschen
Litt. Rhein. Westfdlische Ztg., No. 110.
SPIELHAGEN. Gestalten des Dichters. D. Rs., 103;
52-61.
SHMID, W. Der griechische Roman. Neue Jbb.f. d. klass.
Altertum. Gesch. u. deutsche Litt. u. f. Piidagogik.
SS. 465-85. 1904.
MIELKE. Held u. Heldin im deutsch. Roman. Hann.
T. Bl, No. 31.
ZOBELTITZ, F. v. Gegen die Hintertreppenlitteratur.
1904. Hamburger Nachrichten. Beilage No. 41.
, Geschichtliche Romane u. Erziihlungen. Die schb'ne
Litt., Beibl. z. Litt. Centralblatt, No. 3, 10, 1907.
, Verfall des historischen Romans. Grenzb., 1, SS.
83-90.
PAPPKITZ. Der hist. Roman. Internationale Lilt. Berichte,
395-8, 1900.
HOFFMAN, K. Vom hist. Romau, Voss. Ztg., Sonntags,
beilage, 32, 1905.
HANNAK, E. Historische Romane. Bildungsverein, 27.
S. 102-03.
KOUUT, A. Beriihmte deutsche Humoristen in der Ge-
genwart. Volks-Ztg.,S. No. 6-8.
SCAPINELLI. Der humoristische Roman. Litt. Warte,
163-64. 1900.
LAMBRECHT, N. Der hypnotische Roman. Das20.Ja.hr-
hundert (fruher "Freie deut. Bll." ), 44. 1903.
SPIELHAGEN. Noch etwas vom Ich-Roman, L. E. SS.
453-8.
— , Das Icli des Erzahlers. Nation, 19. 1907.
J. v. SOSNOSKY. Gegen d. Unnatur d. Ich-Techuik.
Gegw., 61. S. 309-11; 325-9. (S. a. u. Technik.)
CARPIN. Der Jude im mod. Roman. Mtschrift. N. L.
K., 1, 662-76.
FALKE, A. Juristenromane. Wiener Fremdenbi, 15/9.
1903.
(Kindheitsromane, s. a. Jugendromane. )
HACKEMANN, A. Vom Kindheits- u, Jugendroman.
Padagogische Warte. 844- 49 ; 891-97. 1906.
LATWESEN, A. Kindlieitsromane. Praxis derVolksschule,
378-85. 1905.
A. WOLOAST. Jugendlekture f. den Weihnachtstisch.
Zeti, W. 21. S. 169-71. (Lelmt jede besondere Ju-
gendschriftstellerei ab. )
A. GEIGER. Jugendromane. L. E. 768-73.
SCHIAN, M. Kirchenpolitische Romane. Tagl. Rundschau.
1906. No. 167.
, Wie Kolportageromane gemacht werden. Das
Land, 13. J. 35-37. 1904.
ADLER, G. Ein deutscher kommunistischer Romancier
des 18. Jahrhunderts ( =W. Heinze). (Macht von
juristischer Seite auf die socialen Tendenzen von
Heinzes Ardinghello aufmerksam.) Zeitgenosse, I.
41-3.
, Kiinstlerromane u. Kunstgeschickte. Hambg.Nachr.
S., 16. -23. Marz, 1890.
BELPAIBE. D. Landleben in d. d. Litt. Dietsch Wa-
rende en Belford, Nov., 1901.
(Siehe auch unter Dorfgeschichte. )
KOSSAK. Lebensromane u. Romanstoffe. Lpz. Tagbl.,
9/9, 1903.
K. ZIEGLER. Lehrergestalten n. den Werken der Dichter
gezeichnet. Padagogische Warte, 9. S. 23-24 ; 562-
65; 872-74; 1093-94. (Behandelt Luise West-
kirch, Hollander, Konrad u. Auerbach.)
KIESOEN. Lehrer- u. Erziehungsromane. Lehrkunst, No.
12. 1906.
, Lehrer- u. Erziehungsromane aus neuester Zeit.
Wiirtenberger Schulwochenblatt. 1905. No. 28 ; 29.
(Siehe auch unter Erziehungsromane.)
PAPPRITZ. Der jungeMadchentypus in der franzosischen
u. deutschen Litteratur. Neues Familienblatt, 3.
N. 46.
LIER, L. Vom Milieu. Wage, 1. SS. 858-60.
PRESPER, R. Belletristische Militarlitteratur. Frank-
furter General'Anzeiger, No. 198.
A. v. GLEICHEN-RITSSWURM. Uber die Moral im deut-
schen Roman. N.F.Presse, No. 12,830.
KLAIBER. Die Namen im Roman. L. E., 5. SS. 311-
15. 1903.
, Der Name im Roman. Monatsbl. f. deutsche Litt.
1903. 507-10.
SCHMIEDEHAUSEN. Vom naturalistischen Roman. Zur
neuen Entwicklungs- u. Erziehungsgeschichte. Der
praktische Schulmann. 1907. 47-64.
MEYER, R. M. Technik des naturalistischen Romans.
Vossische Ztg. 1906. No. 51.
DIETRICH. Vom Naturalismus im Roman. NZ., St. 20*.
533-41.
W. BOLSCHE. Zur Naturgeschichte des modernen Ro-
mans. Fr. B., 7. 899-901.
O. ERNST. Zur Technik der Novelle. Lolse, 2. No. 5.
SS. 144-9.
R. v. KRAI/IK. Die Novelle. E. iisthetischer Versuch.
Der Oral. JRavensburg. II. 12.
A. V. HANSTEIN. Der Offizier in der Dichtung. Umtchau,
6. SS. 721-4.
RENE BAZIN. Des personages de roman. Correspondant,
1898.
, Was ein Pastor erlebt. (Anders, Philippi u. Feder-
sen u. Burmester.) Land, 11. S. 65-66.
K. KONIG. Der Pfarrstand im Negativ. Protestant, 5.
S. 676-83.
(Siehe auch unter Geistliche. )
GOTTSCHALL. Der Roman zu Pferde. Bohemia, No. 260.
H. MIELKE. Proletariat u. Dichtung. Magazin filr Litte-
ratur. Jahrg. 60, No. 12. 1891.
LANDAU, M. Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte des realisti-
schen Romans. Presse. 211—12.
KLAIBER. Religiose Zeitprobleme in deutschen Romanen.
D. E. Bll., 26. SS. 341-54. 1904.
BLENNERHASSET, LADY C. Religiose Probleme u. mod.
Romane. Hochland, Dezember, 1904. 315-26.
, Der Roman remboursable. Biirsenblatt fur d. deutsch.
Buchhandel. 278. 1902.
234
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, JVb. 8.
SOSNOSKY, I. v. Eomandeutsch. Wage, No. 44-5.
BBUNNER. Zur Technik des Romandialogs. Liu. E., 3.
1681-5. 1901.
ECKSTEIN. ModerneKomanhelden. SalonfeuiUelon,\,'So.\.
WALDEN. Zum mod. Eomanheldentum. A. Zg.,B. No.
213.
LUDECKE, ANNA. Romanheldinnen. Bazar, 47. 140-1.
SOSNOSKY, I. v. Roman-Liigen. Nordd. Atg., &• N. 158.
SS. 161-65.
LUDWIG. Romantypen. Lesehattc. 42-3.
L. GEIGEE. Vergessene satirische Komane d. 19. Jahrh.
Zeitschriftf. Biicherfreunde, 1903. 367-77.
HARTWIQ. Der moderne Scbicksalsroman. W. Us., 3.
SS. 343-9.
KIRCHBACH. Schliisselromane. £. -E.vm. 237-45.
HAVEMANN. Schlusselromane. Deutsche Tages-Ztg. , 1906,
No. 47.
, Schundromane. Kw., 16'. S. 420-4.
DISTEL. Zur Schundlitt. Z. D. K. O., 7. S. 414.
M. SCHNITZER. Vom deutsch. Seeroman. Zeitgeist, 1893.
No. 26.
M. HOFFMAN. Die Skizze. L. K, 5. S. 162-5.
THUROW. Aus den Anfilngen der sozialistischen Belle-
tristik. N. Z.,St. 21». S. 212-21. (Behandel
hauptsilchlich ausliindische Schriftsteller. )
LEBLONBE. Le roman socialiste de 1895-1900. R. So-
cialiste, April, 1902.
I. v. STRANNIK. Les conditions sociales des lettres rus-
ses. Revue Blanche, N. 236-7, 1903.
BERTZ. Sportromane. Zeit,W 32. S. 135-8.
SOBNOSKY. Die Sprache der Romanmeuschen. Nation,B-
18, S. 313-15. 19. N. 20.
, Staatsromane. (Besprechung von Bellamys Riick-
blick aus d. J. 2000 ; von Bebels Die Frau in der
Vergangenheit u. von mehreren Gegenschriften. )
D. Rs., 71. S. 303-9.
v. WREDE. Die Entwicklung des Staatsromans. Deul.sche
Revue, Feb., 1905. 141-56.
V. HERTLINQ. tlber alte u. neue Staatsromane (Vor-
trag). Hausschatz, 17. 199-203 ; 212-15 ; 231-4.
, Staatsromane u. Gesellschaftsideale. Mtschr, Christ!.
Socialreform, 19. SS. 581-4 ; 20. SS. 42-5 ; 60-6.
FiJRST. Der Koman d. deutschen Studenten. Voss. Ztg.,
14. Dez. 1902.
O. STOESSEL. Vom subjektiven Roman. M.L., 66. SS.
311-16.
( To be continued in January Number. )
CHARLES H. HANDSCHIN.
Miami University.
ON A QUANTITATIVE RELATION GOV-
ERNING CERTAIN LINGUISTIC
PHENOMENA.
Professor Edward Sievers1 in his paper on "The
Relation of German Linguistics to Indo-Germanic
Linguistics and German Philology," read before
the St. Louis Congress of Arts and Sciences,
1 Congress of Arts and Sciences, Universal Exposition,
St. Louis, 1904, vol. 3 : 284.
speaks of word-accent and sentence-accent, and of
certain efforts that have been made to solve what
he calls the problem of sentence-rhythm and lan-
guage-melody. He expresses the conviction that
authors are unconsciously limited in their choice
of expressions ; that their writings are character-
ized by a certain rhythm which is so clear and so
well-defined that it becomes an important factor
in philological criticism. To use his own words,
"The individual speaker — especially if he be
an author, and no matter whether he be writing
in verse or prose — is under the ban of certain
rhythmic-melodic conceptions, which unconsciously
influence his choice of expressions. The influence
is so strong that an author's individual produc-
tion, often even his entire work, assumes a more
or less plain, yet easily recognizable characteristic
rhythmic-melodic impress. In language melody
especially, the personal peculiarity of the indi-
vidual author becomes an important factor in the
separation of unrelated portions of a preserved
text. Personal observations conducted along these
lines for several years convinced me that there is
no phase of philological criticism which may not
receive new light from this source, whether we are
dealing with the selection of different versions of
a text and the accurate determination of linguistic
and metrical forms or with the most complicated
problems of higher criticism. The method to be
employed in the investigation and application of
the individual rhythmic-melodic standards are
difficult indeed and have been determined only in
small measure. Years will no doubt pass by be-
fore empirical proof of the validity of this thesis
can be established in detail. Yet even this day
we may express the fond hope that the evidence
will be forthcoming. ' '
In view of these remarks, I wish to call atten-
tion to a number of investigations which antici-
pated Professor Sievers' hypothesis, and furnish
in no small measure ' ' empirical proof of the
validity ' ' of his thesis. Furthermore I wish to
communicate the discovery of a quantitative rela-
tion, the first of its kind ever observed, and which,
it would seem, points the way to, if it does not
constitute the beginning of, a new branch of lin-
guistic science.
As to the work done in anticipation of Professor
Sievers' thesis, Professor Sherman,1 Mr. Gerwig*
'Some Observations upon the Sentence- Length in English
Prose, University (of Nebraska) Studies, vol. I, p. 119.
On Certain Facts and Principles in the Development of Form
in Literature, Ibid., TO). I, p. 337.
3 On the Decrease of Predication and of Sentence Weight in
English Prose, Ibid., vol. II, p. 17.
December, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
235
and others investigated in great detail certain so-
called sentence-constants, as sentence length —
the average number of words per sentence used
by an author, predication-average or the average
number of finite verbs per sentence, simple-sen-
tence-frequency— the average number of simple
sentences per hundred, etc. The results of Sher-
man and Gerwig seemed to establish the principle
of the invariability of sentence-constants for a
given author. There is one set and only one
set of constants for each author, while different
authors employ in general different sets of con-
stants, in short, the results seemed to justify the
conclusion that an author's style is characterized
by certain ascertainable numerical constants.
In the second place mention must be made of
Dr. T. C. MendenhalP s * researches on average
word-lengths, and his theory of characteristic
curves. His results led him to believe that
authors not only put a uniform average number
of letters into their words, but that in the long
run, one letter words, two letter words, three let-
ter words, etc. , do recur with constant frequencies.
These relative frequencies give rise to a curve
which is characteristic of the author. One author
can give rise to but one curve, different curves
invariably signify different authorship. It was
thought that one hundred thousand words would
be both necessary and sufficient to furnish such a
characteristic curve.
The present writer5 found that one and the
same author may employ several distinct sets of
sentence-constants, and may give rise to two or
more distinct word-curves. Previous investigators
had not taken into consideration the effect of the
various types of composition, as drama, fiction,
biography, criticism, description, science, etc.,
upon the sentence-constants and word-curves.
The principle of invariable sentence- constants as
1 " The Characteristic Curves of Composition," Science,
March 1], 1887.
"Solution of a Literary Problem," Popular Science
Monthly, Dec., 1901.
6 "The Sherman Principle in Ehetoric and its Restric-
tions," Popular Science Monthly, vol. 63 (1903), p. 534.
On the Variation, etc., University (of Nebraska) Studies,
vol. 3, p. 229.
"On the Significance of Characteristic Curves of Com-
position," Popular Science Monthly, vol. 65 (1904), p. 132.
well as the theory of characteristic curves must be
modified so as to allow for the form into which
an author casts his thought. In fact, an examina-
tion and comparison of all the data available
clearly point to the conclusion that the form of
composition rather than an author's individuality
is the controlling factor in the determination of at
least sentence-length, predication-average, simple
sentence-percentage, and the relative frequencies
of words of various lengths.
In all the work done thus far to establish the
invariability of sentence-constants, an equally if
not more important question can be raised, the
question whether there exists any determinate
relation among the sentence-constants themselves.
Written language considered as an organism
should be subject to the law of organisms in
genera], and have the proportion of its parts
governed by the laws of probability. Not only
should the component parts of a composition
yield themselves to the law of the mean, but their
interrelation should be definite and, if sufficiently
simple, should admit of determination. It is with
this question that the remainder of this paper is
to deal.
Mr. Gerwig' stables contain the results by actual
count of about 60,000 sentences analysed with
respect to predication- averages and simple-sen-
tence-percentages. The results represent seventy-
one different English authors and cover every
period of English literature from Chaucer to the
present day writers. As originally exhibited the
arrangement was by authors, but for the present
purpose it will be more convenient to arrange the
results with reference to one of the constants in
question, say the predication-average which we
shall denote by P. The corresponding simple-
sentence-percentage is denoted by S. The columns
headed by W contain the number of sentences on
which the respective averages are based. Avera-
ges from groups of less than 500 sentences have
been omitted.
P = 1.50 — 2.00
1. WPS
Symonds 500 1.84 58
Macaulay 500 1.88 48
Average 1.86 53
236
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 8.
P = 2. 00 — 2.25
2.
w
P S
Phelps
500
2.03 50
Channing
1000
2.09 42
Bartol
1500
2.10 44
Emerson
500
2.14 38
Macaulay
5000
2.16 36
Blaine
500
2.23 39
Average
2.14 39.1
P =
2.25 — 2.50
3.
W
P S
Everett
1000
2.27 32
Macaulay
4000
2.29 32
Geikie
500
2.34 32
Grant
500
2.34 31
Emerson
1000
2.38 37
Forum
500
2.42 32
James
500
2.45 24
Phillips
500
2.47 53
Shelley
500
2.48 26
Average
2.34 32.9
P =
2.50 — 2.75
4.
W
P S
Junius
500
2.54 26
Greeley ,
500
2.56 26
Disraeli
500
2.57 27
Channing
2000
2.59 31
Shaf tesbury
500
2.61 28
Darwin
500
2.64 21
Lowell
1500
2.67 22
Fiske
500
2.69 20
Pater
500
2.74 26
Average
2.62 25.9
p —
2.75 — 3.00
5.
W
P S
Arnold
500
2.77 20
Shakespeare
500
2.76 31
Hainerton
500
2.85 20
Higginson
500
2.85 21
Thoreau
500
2.86 25
Choate
500
2.88 30
Browning
500
2.91 25
George
500
2.92 23
Hunger
500
2.92 26
Goldsmith
500
2.95 18
Newman
500
2.97 16
Average
2.88 23.2
P =
3.00 — 3.25
6.
W
P S
Stevenson
500
3.01 24
Holland
500
3.03 21
Franklin
500
3.04 19
Mandeville
500
3.08 22
Bacon
500
3.12 19
Carlyle
500
3.12 18
White
500
3.15 15
Johnson
500
3.23 16
7. W
Hume 500
Coleridge 500
Huxley 500
Scott 500
Moore 500
Gladstone 500
Ascham 500
EusRin 500
Average
P =
8. W
Lyly 500
Luke 500
Bolingbroke 1000
More 500
Addison 500
Very 500
Swift 500
De Quincey 500
Barrow 500
Howell 500
Wordsworth 500
Bunyan 500
Sidney 500
Average
P =
9. W
Steele 500
Hooker 500
Chaucer 1000
Hakluyt 500
Average
P = 3.25 — 3.50
P
S
3.29
12
3.33
19
3.36
16
3.36
16
3.38
11
3.43
16
3.49
19
3.50
18
3.39
15.9
3.50 — 4
.00
P
S
3.51
17
3.62
10
3.65
14
3.65
15
3.67
12
3.67
11
3.69
13
3.69
14
3.74
20
3.74
11
3.87
17
3.91
10
3.98
10
3.70
13.4
4.00 — 4.
50
P
S
4.02
10
4.12
12
4.17
8
4.22
12
4.17 10
P = 4.50 — 5.00
10. WPS
Latimer 500 4.75 13
Milton 500 4.87 6
Dryden 500 4.89 6
Average
4.84
8.3
P = 5. 00 — 5.50
Average
3.10 19.2
11. WPS
Chaucer 500 5.25 4
Spencer 1000 5.44 8
Average 5.38 6.7
The results have been arranged in eleven
groups, the first group containing the works for
which P lies between 1.50 and 2.00, the second
those for which P lies between 2.00 and 2.25,
etc. The average for each group is the weighted
average, that is the average P is obtained by
multiplying each separate P by the number of
sentences from which it is taken, after which all
the products are added and their sum divided
December, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
237
by the total number of sentences in the group.
Similarly the average S's are obtained.
On comparing the individual pairs of cor-
responding P's and S's, one fact becomes rather
evident; namely, while the P's form an ascending
series of numbers, the S's form a series which is
in the main descending. The exceptions to this
rule disappear entirely if, instead of the individual
pairs of values, we consider the averages of the
various groups. To the larger P there corresponds
the smaller S, to the smaller P corresponds
the larger S. This signifies a general reciprocal
relation between the P's and S's, a relation which
we might have expected a priori. Other things
equal, there will be the largest average number of
predications, when the simple sentences are fewest,
and vice a versa, when the simple-seutence-per-
centage is 100, that is, when all sentences are
simple, the predications per sentence will be fewest.
At this point the question suggests itself whether
the reciprocal relation just observed is sufficiently
simple to admit of formulation and determination.
The simplest imaginable reciprocal relation is of
course
c
T>
S'
or P. S=c
where c is some constant number. To test for
this relation we need only to multiply the P and
S of the different pairs and observe whether or
not the products obtained are approximately the
same. A few trials show that the relation (1) is
not satisfied.
The next simplest reciprocal relation is
= -, orP.S* =
(2)
where both c and k are constant numbers. We
could test this relation for any particular k by
observing whether P. Sk is approximately the same
for various pairs of corresponding values of P and
S, and by trying various values for k we might
ultimately discover the true relation between P
and S. However, this is a very laborious process,
which may be avoided by writing the assumed
relation (2) in its equivalent logarithmic form
logP = logc — klogS (3)
and observing that this equation plots into a
straight line if log P and log S are used for
rectangular coordinates of points. If then the
predication-averages and the simple sentence-per-
centages are connected by some relation of the
form (2), the points, representing log P and log
S, either value being used for abscissa and the
other for ordinate, should lie approximately on a
straight line. Moreover, the line being located,
the constants c and k may be easily determined,
for as is well-known — k is the tangent of the angle
which the line makes with the positive direction of
the axis along which log S was laid off, and log c
is the distance from the intersection of the axis to
the point in which the line cuts the other axis.
Let us then collect the eleven pairs of average
values of P and S into a table, compute the cor-
responding values of log P and log S and then
plot the eleven corresponding points as shown in
figure 1.
No.
P between
W
Averages.
P S
Co-ordinates,
log P log 8
1
1.50 and
2.00
1000
1.
86
53
0.
270
1.
792
2
2.00
and
2.25
9000
2.
14
39.1
0.
330
1.
524
3
2.25
and
2.50
9000
2.
34
32.9
0.
369
1.
517
4
2.50
and
2.75
7000
2.
62
25.9
0.
418
1.
413
5
2.75
and
3.00
5500
2.
88
23.2
0.459
1.
365
6
3.00
and
3.25
4000
3.
10
19.2
0.
491
1.
283
7
3.25
and
3.50
4000
3.
39
15.9
0.
530
0.
201
8
3. 50 and
4.00
7000
3.
70
13.4
0.
568
1.
127
9
4.00
and
4.50
2500
4.
17
10.0
0.620
1.
000
10
4.50
and
5.00
1500
4.
84
8.3
0.
685
0.
919
11
5.00
and
5.50
1500
5.
38
6.7
0.
731
0.
826
General Mean
2.96 20.03
It is at once apparent, from an inspection of the
figure, that the points representing the eleven
groups of writings lie nearly in one and the same
straight line, we therefore infer that the hypo-
thetical relation formulated in (2) is approxi-
mately correct. In order to determine the con-
stants which enter into that relation we must
actually construct a straight line such that the
sum of the deviations " of the eleven points from
it shall be as small as possible. This is most
readily done by moving a stretched thread until
it occupies the desired position, that is until the
distances from the thread of the points on one
side, are balanced by those of the other side.
After the line has been drawn the constant k is
'Exact treatment according to the laws of probability
requires that the sum of the squares of the deviations,
rather than the sum of the deviations themselves, shall be
a minimum.
238
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 8.
obtained from any triangle, as AOB, which has
some portion of the line for its hypotenuse, and its
other two sides parallel to the co-ordinate axes.
Thus from Fig 1 :
_OB __ 0.585
OA" 1.153
= 0.507.
The constant c is obtained from the point where
the line intersects the vertical axis. Thus,
a more rigorous mathematical method (the method
of least squares) could have been used. By that
method, a rather laborious process leads to two
normal equations for the determination of C and k,
viz. :
52 log c — 70.046 k = 23.745
70. 046 log c — 96. 759 k = 30. 767.
Solving
0. 886 = log c— 0.50 k,
log c=0.886 + 0.2535 = 1.1395,
c= 13.79.
With these values for k and c, the relation be-
tween predication-averages and simple-sentence-
percentages becomes
log P = 1. 1395 — 0. 507 log S,
or
13.79
So.507 • (4)
c=13.78, k = 0.5068,
results which differ but slightly from the values
obtained above.
The accuracy with which the empirical formula
13.79
P =
go. 507
•p
Instead of the simple device which has been
employed in the determination of the constants in
the foregoing empirical formula between P and S,
represents the true relation between predication-
averages and simple-sentence-percentages, may be
better realized by comparing results as obtained
by actual count, with corresponding results de-
rived by computation from the formula. The
following table contains two values of S for a
given P, the third column contains the actual,
December, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
239
the fourth the theoretic value. Thus for P =
2. 14, S as obtaiued by actual count is 39. 1, while
computation gives
13.79
2.14 =
from which
gO. 507
No.
Predication Simple-Sentence- W = E =•> „, ,-,.
Averages. Percentages. Weight. Error. " ™
By Count. By Formula.
1
1.86
53
51.9
1
1.1
1.21
2
2.14
39.1
39.6
9
0.5
2.25
3
2.34
32.9
33.1
9
0.2
.36
4
2.62
25.9
26.5
7
0.6
2.52
5
2.88
23.2
22.0
5.5
1.2
7.92
6
3.10
19.2
19.0
4
0.2
.16
7
3.39
15.9
15.9
4
0.0
.00
8
3.70
13.4
13.4
7
0.0
.00
9
4.17
10.0
10.6
2.5
0.6
.90
10
4.84
8.3
7.9
1.5
0.4
.24
11
5.38
6.7
6.4
1.5
0.3
.13
Error of Mean Square, .55
Modulus, - - - .78
Probable Error, - - .38
Those who are accustomed to compare experi-
mental with theoretic values will pronounce the
agreement between the numbers in the third and
fourth columns of this table exceedingly close, an
agreement much closer than is usually obtained
from formula embodying so-called physical laws.
i Technically this accordance is characterized by
computing the modulus of the probability curve,
which in our case is . 78, or the so-called probable
error .37 which is the modulus multiplied by .477.
The accuracy indicated by these numbers is
moreover corroborated by comparing results cal-
culated from our formula with those obtained by
actual count of works not included in our list.
For instance, Miss Pound7 found, from a tabu-
lation of 2665 periods, that Chaucer uses 2.77
predications per period, and 24.8% of simple sen-
tences. Using S =24.8, that one of the two con-
stants most readily determined by count, our
formula gives
13.79
(24.8)
0.507
= 2.71.
''Modern Language Notes, Vol. XI, p. 202. Miss Pound
gives 2.76 and .024, the discrepancy is due to an error in
addition.
Averaging with these 2665 periods the results
from the additional 2205 periods from the Ro-
maunt of the Rose, also given by Miss Pound, we
obtain 8 = 22.42, P = 2.82, while the formula
gives
13.79
"(22.42)°-5°7
= 2.85.
The constants P and S for Macaulay's History of
England also have been determined with accuracy.
By actually counting the simple sentences and
finite verbs in the forty thousand periods of the
History, Professor Sherman found the simple-sen-
tence-percentage for the entire work to be 34.2
and the predication average 2.30. This is pre-
cisely the result given by our formula, for
P =
13.79
(34.2)
0.507
= 2.30.
Formula (4) may be replaced by another which
is much simpler and but slightly less accurate.
0. 507 is nearly one-half, so that the denominator
of the right hand member of the formula may be
written
S 0.507 =SK = 1/ § nearly,
that is, without committing much error the k in
(2) may be put equal to one-half. If now we
draw the line AB in figure 1 so that the tangent
of its angle with the horizontal axis is one-half
and so that the sum of the squared distances of
the points from it is a minimum, the corresponding
constant c is found to be 13.5. Formula (4)
may then be replaced by the slightly less accurate
formula
1 q c
P=i,orP'S=183, (5)
in words :
The average number of predications employed by
an English author varies approximately inversely
as the square root of the average number of simple
sentences per hundred employed by the same author,
or, the average number of simple sentences per hun-
dred employed by an English author varies in the
long run as the inverse square of the average num-
ber of predications per sentence.
The following table compares the counted
values of S and the values as calculated by
formula (5) :
240
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 8.
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
P — No. 8 = Simple-sentence
ofPredi- percentages. W — E=- W £2.
cations. By Count. By Formula Weight. Error.
(5).
1.86
2.14
2.34
2.62
2.88
3.10
3.39
3.70
4.17
4.84
5.38
53.0
39.1
32.9
25.9
23.2
19.2
.15.9
13.4
10.0
8.3
6.7
52.9
40.0
33.4
26.7
22.1
19.0
15.9
13.3
10.5
7.8
6.3
Error of Mean Square, .65
Modulus, - - - .91
Probable Error, - - .43
1
9
9
7
5.5
4
4
7
2.5
1.5
1.5
.1
.9
.5
.8
1.1
.2
.0
.1
.5
.5
.4
0.01
7.29
2.25
4.48
6.61
.16
.00
.00
.62
.38
.24
Here the error of the mean square and conse-
quently also the modulus and probable error are
but slightly in excess over the corresponding mag-
nitudes for the more exact relation (4). The
agreement of the assumed relation (5) with the
data collected by counting is perhaps most obvious
from an examination of the following graph. The
graph represents the inverse square relation P2S
= 183, the marked points represent the results
obtained by actual count, S and P being used for
horizontal and vertical co-ordinates respectively.
It seems, then, that the inverse square relation
(5) fits all the observed data as closely as could
well be desired, and may therefore be regarded
as established until conflicting data are produced.
December, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
241
But the existence of one definite relation suggests
the possible existence of others. May not the
other sentence-constants be interrelated also, and
if so can their laws of interrelation be made mani-
fest and formulated in a simple way ? Is it pos-
sible to construct a norm or system of norms, and
characterize the writings of any given author by
their departure from this norm ? Unfortunately
no data are available to answer these and kindred
questions at the present time.
It is hoped that the examples here given and
the suggestions made, may receive the attention
of students of linguistic science. From the ex-
ample it should be clear how mathematics itself,
the most perfect and powerful instrument of exact
thought, may be pressed into the service of lin-
guistic science. The suggestion is that the law of
the inverse square connecting simple-sentence-per-
centages and predication-averages may not be an
isolated phenomenon but the first landmark rather
of a rich field yet to be explored, pointing the way
to an unsuspected branch of philology which under
the name of ' ' Literametrics ' ' may become to
philology, what "Biometrics" has already be-
come to the biological sciences.
ROBERT E. MORITZ.
University of Washington.
INTERCHANGE OF SUFFIXES.
-Aster, -Ignus, AND -Icus.
Meyer-Liibke {Gram., n, page 445) treats
briefly the interchange of the Latin suffixes
-aster and -ignus, and the consequent effect upon
the Romance words of step-relationship :
"En regard de Pital. figliastro, figliastra, fra-
tellastrOjfratellastra, del'esp. padrasto, madrastra,
du fran. mardtre, egalement par, Jill, , . . figurent
Pital. patrigno, madrigna, qui paraissent remonter
a patrigno, matrigna, refaits a Pepoque romaine
deja sur privignus ; ajoutez-y certaines formes
dialectales, p. ex. fradlen, sorleha a Mantoue.
C'est encore une autre formation que presentent
le napol. patriye, matreye, teram. patreye, matreye,
dont le point de depart est dans le grec j
This interchange of suffixes has had a wider
field of action than Meyer-Liibke has been pleased
to show. Suffix -aster, in this connection origin-
ally compounded with Cl. Lat. pater, mater into
Vulg. Lat. patraster, matrastra (step-father,
-mother), soon spread to the forms filius, filia,
frater (for both genders), and sometimes to soror
(Prov. sourrastre).
Suffix -ignus (-igna), originally in Cl. Lat.
privignus, privigna (step-son, -daughter), like-
wise separated from its stem and helped to form
new words of step-kinship (Ital. patrigno, ma-
trigna). In several dialects the same stem is
found compounded indifferently with either suffix
(Venet. paregno, pareaslro).
Mater -f- > 0. Fr. maratre ; Ital. matrigna ;
Span, madrastra ; Port, ma-
drasta ; Prov. mairastra ; Mi-
lan, madregna ; Venet. ma-
regna ; Rhset. madrastra,
madrigna ; Namur, mau-
rause ; Sicil. marrastra ;
Roum. mastera.
Pater + > O- Fr. paratre ; Ital. patrigno ;
Span, padrastro ; Port, pa-
drasto ; Cat. padastre ; Prov.
pairastro ; Milan, padregn ;
Venet. paregno, pareastro ;
Rhset. padraster ; Sicil. par-
rastru (f. parrastra ; v.
mater) .
Frater -f- > Ital. fratellastro, -a ; Mant.
fradlen ; Sicil. fratastru, -a ;
Milan, fradellaster ; Venet.
fradelastro ; Parma fradlasch.
Soror -f- > Prov. sourrastre ; Mant. sor-
lena ; Milan, sorellastra ;
Sard, sorrastra, sorrestra ;
Venet. sorelastra ; Parma
sorlasca.
Filius (a) + > 0. Fr. fillatre ; Ital. figliastro,
-a ; Span, hijastro, -a ; Cat.
fillastre ; Sicil. figghiastru,
-a ; Rhset. figliaster, -astra ;
Roum. fiastru, -a ; Liege
f ias ; Prov. filhastre ; Sard,
fizastru, -a ; Milan, fiaster,
-astra ; Venet. fiastro, -a ;
Alban. ©iestre.
o
242
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 8.
Enough examples have been given to show the
constant interchange of -ignus and -aster in these
words of quasi-kinship. There still remain un-
explained by such suffix interchange, O. Fr.
serorge, serourege, sororge, etc. (beau-frere, belle-
soeur) ; and Neapol. patriye, matreye, Teram.
patreye, matreye. Meyer-Liibke has recourse to
a Greek ^njTpiiio to explain the Italian forms,
while he poses a Cl. Lat. sororius (adj.) to ex-
plain serorge. In view of the other suffix inter-
changes and the interdependence of meaning in
this class of words, need we look so far afield for
an explanation of their origin ?
Schwan-Behrens, offering sororium as the ety-
mon of serorge, explains the phonetic change as
an exception to the rule of ri intervocalic becoming
ir (cf. coriu^>cuir, etc.). Du Cange (Glossa-
rium) offers a variety of Low Lat. forms, sororius,
sororgius, etc. The form sororgius can be readily
explained as an evident attempt to re-latinize the
O. Fr. s6rorge which was not thought of as re-
mounting to sororius.
We must take into consideration a third suffix
peculiar to Cl. Lat. and employed in the two
chief words of step-kinship, -(i)cus, -(i~)ca found
in Cl. Lat. vitricus (step-father), noverca (step-
mother). The words have evidently been over-
looked in their relation to the other words of their
class. Prof. Grandgent (Vulg. Lat., p. 9) makes
the common oversight when he observes that Cl.
Lat. vitricus was driven out by Vulg. Lat. patras-
ter. This statement is too comprehensive, for the
form is still found in Roum. vitrigu, vitriga, in
Logud. bidrigu, and in South. Sard, birdiu,
birdia. l
Br6al (Mem. Soc. Ling., 6, 341) would go
back to a form *mater(i)ca to explain Cl. Lat.
noverca. "En realite noverca est un produit de
1' analogic. On disait pour marquer un pfere qui
n'etait pas un vrai pere, patricus • pour marquer
une m£re qui n'e'tait pas une vraie m£re, matrica.
De m6me, par une hardiesse qui rappelle les crea-
tions linguistiques des eufants, on a dit de la nou-
velle Spouse du pere, noverca. "
1 In Eoumanian, the Lat. noun has weakened to adjec-
tival use, though it may also be used substantively : frate
vitreg ; mamS, vitriga.. There is likewise the fern. adj.
mastera, " contrasu d'in matrasta ; 8. f. noverca . . . se
applica si ca adjectiva : mama mastera."
Key (Lat. Engl. Diet., 1888), failing an ety-
mology of vitricus, observes an obvious lack of
patricus. This absence we may feel sure was felt
in Vulg. Lat. , when vitricus passed out of general
use, while a more familiar stem was sought to
take its place.
Worthy of special mention in this connection is
the established use of suffixes -icu, -ica, in the
Slavic tongues in words of quasi-kinship. Scores
of examples might be given : SI. polnica, daugh-
ter-in-law ; Russ. padcerica, step-daughter ; Serv.
surioica, step-brother, surica, step-sister ; punica,
father-in-law.
By a singular chance, doubtless, the Celtic has
preserved traces of a suffix corresponding to Lat.
-icu, -ica, in words of step-relationship : tadek,
mammek, mabek, etc. (step-father, etc.). Celtic
-ek is in some cases derived from Latin -icu, and
a claim might be made that the form tadek was a
resultant of early Latin influence : i. e. tata + icu.
Unfortunately for such an etymology, tad, mam,
of the Celtic cannot be traced definitely to the
Latin, owing to their close relationship to Indo-
European forms found in Polish, Russian, etc.
Mammek is not to be distinguished, for derivation,
from Roumanian maica (<^mamica, dimin., often
used for noverca).
That the other Romance tongues outside so
widely separated territories as Sardinia and Rou-
mania should show no trace of the influence of
vitricus and noverca, were an incredible thing.
We may at least expect to find the suffixes -icu,
-ica employed in the general suffix interchange.
*Sororicu, *sororica (beau-frere, belle-sceur), if
postulated, being probable in view of the suffix
exchange given above, as well as the wide-spread
use of -icu, has a saner phonetic relationship to
serourege, serorge, than has sororium.' With
*sororicu (-a) we can easily explain the dialectical
forms, serotche (Huy), sorotche (Li£ge), serog
(Wallon), as well as serouque (Rouchi), which
could scarcely be referred to sororiu.*
2Cf. fabrica > *farge, forge ; pedica ]> piege ; serica >
serge ; sudriea > *sourge ]> surge. In the case of surge,
the Low Lat. developed a word swgia in the expression
lana surgia, not recognizing the true etymology. Cf. this
with sororgius given by Du Cange.
3 Joret (Du C d. 1. Lang. Kom., p. 99) makes a similar
complaint regarding mistaken derivation. "On admet
December, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
243
In a postulated *patricu, *matrica, we find an
obvious phonetic and semantic solution of dialec-
tical matreye, patreye. Latin nouns in -icu, -ica,
show a marked tendency in Italian dialects to
change c to hard g. This g, in the dialects of
Teramo and Naples, often weakens to a spirant.
Usually this change seems to occur when the c or
g precede or follow the accent, though examples
may be found in proparoxy tons. *
By thus referring serorge, patreye, etc., to ety-
mons with suffixes, -icu, -ica, according to an evi-
dent phonetic change, we more readily illustrate
the unified semasiological development of these
words of quasi-kinship.
SHIRLEY GALE PATTERSON.
Paris,
A CARDUCCI-LEOPARDI PARALLEL.
Chiarini ( Giosue Carducci : Levia Gravia, n-
Vi) * several times refers to the influence of Leo-
pardi on Carducci, but the points of contact are
on general lines and not reduced to particular
citations. He is apparently surprised for instance
at the lack, when the psychological moment seems
most favorable to such influence, of connection
between Leopardi and the ode Alia memoria di
Dante Carducci. We note the details for which
Chiarini was seeking, in another poem from Juve-
nilia, that internal evidence would seem to con-
nect with Dante Carducci's suicide. The parallel
is between Juv., xvm, vv. 1-12, and Leopardi,
Sopra un basso rilievo antico sepolcrale, w. 28-35,
18-24. The conceptions are identical, treating
the picture of death which overtakes the youthful
soul just expanding to maturity, and the attendant
. . . bourriche . . . qu'on regarde corame un deriv6 en
ictus • • • ; j'aime mieux y voir un d£riv4 en icus ; 1'an-
cienne orthographe, et les formes picardes ou normandes
epinoque, filoques . . . pendent cette etymologic eVidente
pour les mots correspondents."
4 Corica >• coleche, medico > mmedeche, pizzica >
pizziche ; but sfaticata > sfatijata, gastigo > castije,
fatica ]> fatije, fatyje, nemico > nemieje. — Finamore,
Rom. Forsch., XI ; De Lollis, Arch. Glott., xn, 191.
1 Giosue Carducci, impressioni e ricordi, Bologna, Zani-
chelli, 1901, particularly p. 24.
separation from the loved ones in the home. The
probability of direct connection between the pas-
sages is further strengthened by certain striking
recurrences of phrase :
Juv., i, xvm,2 vv. 1-4 :
E tu venuto ai belli anni ridenti
Quando alia vita il cor piu si disserra ... in terra
Poni le membra di vigor fiorenti.
Leopardi, 1. c., w. 28-34 :
Ma nata al tempo
Che reina bellezza si dispiega
Nelle membre e nel volto,
Ed incommincia il mondo
Verso lei di lontano ad atterrarsi ;
In sul fiorir d'ogni speranza, e molto
Prima che incontro alia festosa fronte . . .
Carducci, I. c., vv. 5-8 ; 12-14 :
. . , Deh, quanta guerra
Di mesti affetti e di pensier frementi
Te sugli occhi dei tuoi dolci parenti
Spingeva ad affrettar pace sotterra.
. . . Ne il viso
Piu de la madre e non la donna cara
O il fratel giovinetto o il padre pio.
N6 i verdi campi, vedrai piu.
Leopardi, 1. e., vv. 20-24 :
. . . L'aspetto
Dei tuoi dolci parenti
Lasci per sempre. ] 1 loco
A cui movi 6 sotterra :
Ivi fia d'ogni tempo il tuo soggiorno.
Leopardi treats more tersely the same idea, in
phrases somewhat similar in II Sogno, vv. 26-33.
We may add that if, during this period, the
textual influence of Leopardi on Carducci is slight,
it is because there is little in common between the
passive morbidity of the one and the exultant
agnosticism of the other. Leopardi feels a crush-
ing social dejection, a despair in the utility of life ;
Carducci addressing a melancholy interrogation
to the unknown which his reason is unable to
penetrate, but the more abundantly sees the joy
of living. Hence Leopardi is entirely foreign to
such emotions as Funere mersit acerbo, Pianto
antico and Congedo (n). It is on lines of broad
!G. Carducci, Poesie, 1850-1900 (Zanichelli, Bologna,
1902), p. 28.
244
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, JVb. 8.
construction (e. g., the introduction of a classical
analogy in Alia Liberia from Leopardi's All'
Italia) that Carducci was susceptible to Leopardi's
influence. Such direct borrowings from him as
that from Petrarch's Passa la nave mia (Juv.,
in, 1) are rare.
A. A. LIVINGSTON.
Columbia University.
SHAKESPEARE AND HIS RIDICULE OF
'CAMBYSES.'
Schmidt in his "Shakespeare Lexicon" calls
attention to the fact that "perpend" "is used
only by Pistol, Polonius, and the clowns."
Walker1 in commenting upon the use of "per-
pend" by the clown in Tivelfth Night, suggests
that it is " perhaps from a tragedy : though dra-
matic scraps seem to be hardly in the clown's
way." He was nearer right than he knew.
Steevens 2 in a note on ' ' Ford, perpend, ' ' in The
Merry Wives of Windsor, hits upon Cambyses 8 as
the right source for this word as used by Shakes-
peare. Steevens makes no reference, however,
to the other uses of this word by Shakespeare.
A closer observation of the two passages in
Thomas Preston's Cambyses, together with a con-
sideration of the passages where Shakespeare
makes use of ' ' perpend, ' ' will strengthen Stee-
vens' ' ' perhaps ' ' into an expression of more
emphasis. The italicized words in the following
quotations are my own. The first and more im-
portant passage for our purpose in Cambyses con-
tains the opening lines of the play. They strike
at once the extragant note of bombast that Shakes-
peare ridicules :
1 Orit., iii, 138.
1 Johnson's and Steevens' Shakespeare, 1778, Vol. I. p.
262. Steevens says : " This is perhaps a ridicule on a pas-
sage in the old comedy of Cambyses : ' My sapient words
I say perpend ' : again : ' My Queen, perpend what I
pronounce.' Shakespeare has put the same word into the
mouth of Polonius."
The New Variorum Shakespeare, in commenting on its use
in Hamlet, As You Like It, and Twelfth Niyhl, fails to record
Steevens' observation.
'Hazlitt's Dodslcy, vol. iv, p. 163.
Comb. My Counsaill grave and sapient, with lords of
legal 1 traine.
Attentive ears towards me bend, and mark what
shall be sain ;
So you likewise, my valiant knight, whose manly
acts doth flie
By brute of Fame, that sounding tromp doth perce
the azur sky ;
My sapient words, I say, perpend, and so your skil
delate !
You know that Mors vanquished hath Cirus, that
king of state, [etc.].
At line 1018 we find a second example of per-
pend :
King. My queene, perpend ; what I pronounce, I wil not
violate,
But one thing which my hart makes glad I minde
to explicate ;
You know in court uptrained is a lyon very youg ;
[etc.].'
It is the former of these passages that Shakes-
peare had especially in mind when employing
' ' perpend ' ' for burlesque effect. A considera-
tion of the passages involved in the five plays is
necessary to establish the probability of this source
for Shakespeare's use of "perpend."
Feste, commanded to read Malvolio's letter
written from the darkness of his place of confine-
ment, begins with extravagant gesture and grandi-
loquent voice : 5
Clo. [Reads] By the Lord, Madam,—
OK. How now ! art thou mad ?
Clo. No, madam, I do but read madness. An your
ladyship will have it as it ought to be, you must
allow Vox.
Oli. Prithee, read i' thy right wits.
Clo. So I do, madonna ; but to read his right wits is to
read thus : therefore perpend, my princess, and give
To punish Feste for not heeding her injunction to
leave off his mad reading, Olivia commands Fa-
bian to take the letter from the clown and read it
himself. Any actor playing to an understanding
audience in Shakespeare's day would have had no
difficulty in forcing home Feste' s thrust, "There-
fore perpend, my princess, and give ear."
Touchstone similarly observes the possibilities
of this sonorous word in suggesting the grandilo-
« Hazlitt's Doddey, vol. iv, p. 226.
6 Twelfth Night, v, i, 299 (Cambridge Shakespeare).
December, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
245
quence of the old play. In the course of his argu-
ment with Corin, the clown's " too courtly a wit "
suggests to him to impose upon the simpler wit of
the country man the impassioned eloquence that
he had seen tear in shreds the objects of its fer-
vour. Having advanced the argument that unless
one has been at court he be damned, Touchstone
upholds his point by demolishing one after another,
the reasons that Corin argues. Finally he clinches
the argument by turning back upon Corin (as a
reason why a shepherd should go to court) his
own comparison of the civet-perfumed hands of
the courtier with the tar-stained hands of the
shepherd " :
Touch. Most shallow man ! thou worm' s-meat, in re-
spect of a good piece of flesh indeed ! Learn
of the wise and perpend. Civet is of a baser
birth than tar, the very uncleanly flux of a
cat. Mend the instance, shepherd.
Cor. You have too courtly a wit for me. I'll rest.
Touchstone's style both of delivery and of lan-
guage in this triumphant shot at the "natural
philosopher, ' ' must have recalled in some measure,
by its pompous diction, its alliteration, and the
grandiose gestures that doubtless accompanied it,
those ' ' harlotry players, ' ' who speaking in pas-
sion did it ' ' in King Cambyses' vein. ' '
When the clowns summon "perpend" to do
them service, they do it consciously with a full
knowledge of the possibilities for laughter that it
contains. This is not the case with the other
users of this word. Polonius, the statesman, who
affects euphuistic niceties of expression, pompously
rolls "perpend" over his tongue. Elated over
the discovery that Hamlet is mad for the love of
Ophelia, he revels in verbal play in the commu-
nication of this fact to the Queen, earning for his
reward her sharp reproof,1 "More matter, with
less art."
Pal. Madam, I swear I use no art at all.
Perpend.
I have a daughter, — have while she is mine, —
Who in her duty and obedience, mark,
Hath given me this : now gather and surmise.
[Reads.]
Polonius' vocabulary and delivery may well
6 As You Like It, III, ii, 67.
T Hamlet, n, ii, 95.
have connected him in Shakespeare's mind with
the ranting declamation of King Cambyses. The
probability that this was the case is strengthened
by the use in Polonius' speech of the second im-
perative form, "mark," as in the opening lines
of A Commedy of King Cambyses.
In his serious use of ' ' perpend ' ' Polonius finds
for himself a strange yoke-mate in Pistol. In
Pistol's speeches Shakespeare recalls typical pas-
sages from Marlowe's Tamburlaine,6 Peele's Al-
cazar,9 and probably from another of Peele's
dramas that is lost.10 These passages have been
identified in burlesque form : and still other scraps
from older and less known dramas are suspected.
It is from this sheep in wolfs clothes that we
catch twice the word "perpend," once in a mar-
tial scene of exquisite humour in Henry V, and
once in a scene of less spirit in The Merry Wives.
In France, Pistol has captured a Frenchman, and
true to his love for the fustian in word and deed,
he terrifies the captured enemy with the vehe-
mence of his words and the violence of his
actions " :
Pist. Yield, cur !
Fr. Sol. Je pense que vous £tes le gentilhomme de
bonne qualite1.
Pist. Qualtitie calmie custure me ! Art thou a gen-
tleman ? What is thy name ? Discuss.
Fr. Sol. O Seigneur Dieu !
Pist. O, Signieur Dew should be a gentleman ?
Perpend my words, 0 siynieur Dew, and mark;
O Signeur Dew, thou diest on point of fox,
Except, O Signieur, thou do give to me
Egregious ranson.
Fr. Sol. O prenez mise'ricorde ! Ayez piti^ de moi !
The Frenchman had no way of knowing that
the wild behaviour of the violent enemy before
him was only the stage-house fury of a coward
who had caught the trick of ranting from the
older school of London actors. Bottom, with his
"chief humour for a tyrant," would have en-
joyed this ' ' Ercles ' ' rarely. Even if our critical
8 2 Henry IV, II, iv, 178, " And hollow pamper'd jades
of Asia."
9 2 Henry IV, II, iv, 193, "Then feed and be fat, my
fair Calipolis."
10 2 Henry IV, n, iv, 173, "Have we not Hiren here,"
probably from The Turkish Mahomet and Hyren the Fair
Greek.
11 Henry V, IV, iv, 1.
246
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 8.
spirit in a moment of "perpending" be aroused
to challenge here a direct reference by Shakes-
peare to Thomas Preston's play, it is impossible
to deny the comic potentiality a reference of this
kind would possess — and entirely worthy of the
genius of Shakespeare.
This ' ' lamentable tragedie mixed full of pleas-
ant mirth, containing the life of Cambyses, King
of Persia," was, furthermore, the admiration
of those ' ' rude mechanicals ' ' in Midsummer
Night's Dream, who modelled after its title, it
is thought, the title of their " ' ' most lamentable
comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and
Thisbe." 1S
FalstafF, as is well known, adds his testimony
that Shakespeare made sport of Cambyses.
Assuming the part of the King, he enacts the
scene in which Prince Hal is to be called to
account by his father " :
Fal. Well, an the fire of grace be not quite out of
thee, now shall thou be moved. Give me a
cup of sack to make my eyes red, that it may
be thought I have wept ; for I must speak
in passion, and I will do it in King Cambyses'
vein.
Prince. Well, here is my leg.
Fal. And here is my speech. Stand aside, nobility.
Host. O Jesu, this is excellent sport, i' faith !
Fal. Weep not, sweet queen ; for trickling tears are
vain.
Host. O, the father, how he holds his countenance.
Fal, For God's sake, lords, convey my tristful queen,
For tears do stop the flood gates of her eyes.
Host. O, Jesu, he does it as like one of these harlotry
players as ever I see !
Fal. Peace, good pint-pot ; peace, good-ticklebrain,
[etc.].
The force of FalstafF' s remarks here to the
Hostess cannot be understood without reference
to the source of their inspiration. The ' ' trickling
tears " of " my tristful queen, " as it is, fit illy
into the meaning of the passage. Falstaff here
is taking not only his manner, but his matter as
well, from King Cambyses. For the moment
he is identifying himself with the tyrant, his
"Mid. 2Fs. D., i, ii, 11.
"The mention of a pension by Flute in this play (TV,
2, 19) is thought to refer to the pension conferred in 1564
upon Thomas Preston by Queen Elizabeth, for his good
acting in the tragedy Dido, played before her majesty.
"1 Henry IV, II, iv, 421.
model, and is re-enac^tet. the scene where the
King is ordering his-SHpn off to execution15 —
with special reference to the interrupting Hostess.
An "understanding auditory" must have ex-
claimed with the Hostess, ' ' O, Jesu, he does it
as like one of these harlotry players as ever
I see!"
However, Pistol in one respect at least brings
the burlesque nearer home. Both in Henry V
and in The Merry Wives he delivers the passages
in question in a rough metre that stumps along
with strongly marked emphasis, a ' ' right butter-
woman's rank to market," recalling both by its
movement and its grammatical peculiarities the
crude structure of such old plays as Cambyses.
In particular, the passage in The Merry Wives
which contains Shakespeare's key- word of dra-
matic extravagances, stumps along in imitation
of the awkward metre of the old drama. It is
where Pistol has been telling Ford that Falstaff
is making love to his wife, that Ford replies " :
Ford. Why, eir, my wife is not young.
Pist. He wooos both high and low, both rich and poor,
Both young and old, one with another, Ford ;
He loves the gallimaufry : Ford, -perpend.
Ford. Love my wife !
Leaving now the consideration of individual
passages in Shakespeare, let us look at some gen-
eral resemblances of Shakespeare's use of "per-
pend ' ' to the use of the same word by Thomas
Preston in Cambyses. Both authors employ it
only in the imperative mood, accompanied in
each case either by the name or the title of the
person addressed, or by both. It occurs consist-
ently in Shakespeare in metre, even where it is
closely preceded and followed by prose, as in
Twelfth Night and in As You Like It, where a
rough line is hammered out to give it its proper
setting. As in Cambyses further, "perpend"
arrests the attention in preparation for an im-
portant statement that is to follow : Feste and
Polonius are preparing to read a letter ; Pistol in
Henry V, to inform ' ' Signieu Dew ' ' of the terms
on which he will grant his life ; Touchstone, to
confuse Corin by turning back upon him, boom-
erang-like, his own argument. Only Pistol in
15 Cambyses, Hazlitt's Dodsley, vol. IV, pp. 237, 238.
w Merry Wives, II, i, 116.
December, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
247
his counsel to Ford seems to be an exception,
but here Ford's uncomplimentary surprise, that
anyone could love his wife, interrupts Pistol's
speech, and thus prevents him from adding what
he had in mind to add.
Not only are there these general marks of re-
semblance in the use of "perpend," but an
examination of the thought and the words of
the introductory lines of Carnbyses will show, I
think, that in each case Shakespeare has bor-
rowed, along with "perpend" (Pistol's advice
to Ford excepted here again for the same reason
as above), other characteristic thoughts and even
words to make his burlesque the more sure.
Feste's words to Olivia, " Therefore perpend, my
Princess, and give ear," Touchstone's " Learn of
the wise, and perpend,' Polonius' "Perpend . . .
mark . . . " ; and Pistol' s ' ' Perpend my words
and mark," find close parallels in " Attentive ears
toward me bend, " " My sapient words, I say per-
pend, ' ' and ' ' mark what shall be sain, ' ' all taken
from the first four lines of Cambyses, the passage
in question that Shakespeare seems to have had
especially in mind each time that he made use of
the word ' ' perpend. ' '
M. P. TILLEY.
University of Michigan.
DANTON, GEORGE HENRY : The Nature Sense in
the Writings of Ludwig Tieck. New York :
The Columbia University Press, 1907. 98 pp.
STEINERT, WALTER : Das Farbenempfinden Lud-
wig Tiecks. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des
Naturgefuhls in der deutschen Dichtung. Diss.
Bonn, 1907. 118 pp.
The increasing interest in the history of German
Komanticism is manifesting itself in a more inten-
sive study of the nature sense of the Romanticists,
that conspicuous element of their literary art. In
this movement Tieck bulks so large, that a de-
tailed study of his attitude towards landscape
should long since have been undertaken. Hence
the dissertations before us, one American, one Ger-
man, which in a sense complement each other,
are very welcome.
Danton divides his subject into an introduction
and four chapters entitled : The Temperamental
Attitude, The Philosophical Attitude, The Natur-
alistic Interpretations, The Mystic and Symbolic
Interpretations. It appears that Tieck was appre-
ciative of most divergent types of landscape. He
was impressed by the North German March (and
thus becomes — Danton might have added — the
forerunner of Fontane), by the mountainous and
wooded regions of Germany, by Switzerland and
the Swiss Alps, and by Italy. Unfortunately,
this wide range rarely implies profound inner ex-
perience, for, as D. happily expresses it, Tieck
was capable of being violently but never deeply
moved (p. 34). To misquote Wordsworth, his
was the tumult not the depth of soul. His treat-
ment of nature reveals, as does his handling of
character, a Protean quality which differs from
Goethe's in not being carried by a definite Welt-
anschauung.
This versatility appears also in Tieck' s attitude
towards gardens : love and admiration for the
French — and especially the Italian — garden, with
consequent criticism of the English park at his
time so much in vogue, coupled nevertheless with
great admiration for the English park at Worlitz.
In his protest against the vagaries of the English
garden Tieck was not so isolated as has often been
supposed. We learn from an excellent French
investigation (Daniel Mornet : Le Sentiment de la
Nature en France de J.-J. Rousseau a Bernardin
de Saint Pierre, Essai sur les Rapports de la Lit-
terature et des Moeurs, Paris, 1907, pp. 219 ff. ),
that in France, criticism and ridicule were leveled
at it almost to the end of the eighteenth century.
Thus, also, he loved great vistas and small gardens
with formal plots. In the same fashion he coupled
liking for the vast phenomena of nature — storms,
cataclysms, great sweeps — with liking for the
minute and delicate. Here Danton should have
shown to what extent this love for the minute in
nature implies careful observation and a trained
eye, such as we find in Goethe and in modern
poets like Stifter. (See Ratzel, Uber Naturschil-
derung. Miinchen und Berlin, sec. ed., 1906,
passim) .
The center of Tieck' s nature sense — the center
of the entire viewpoint of this typical Romanticist
— is his Egoism, which makes him constantly inject
into nature his own subjective moods (p. 33).
248
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 8.
Here, we might add, Tieck differs vitally from
such modern poets as Storm and Martin Greif.
The latter, as appears from a very sympathetic
study of this delightful lyricist by Kosch (Wilhelm
Kosch, Martin Greif in seinen Werken, Leipzig,
1907), was a master of objective rendering of
nature's moods. Perhaps no better foil for
Tieck' s subjectivity could be found than the
following lines from Greif :
" Beim letzen Abendstrahle
Folg1 ich der Ache Lauf,
Da taucht mit einem Male
Des Seees Spiegel auf.
Zu Hanpten welch ein Gliihen,
Von Firn zu Firn entfacht,
Zu Fiiszen welch ein Ziehen
Der Nebel in die Nacht.
O iibermachtig Steigen
Dort, wo die Alpen stehn,
O tiefgeheimes Schweigen
Dort, wo die Schleier wehn."
In many respects Tieck' s attitude towards
nature is purely conventional. So in his treat-
ment of the seasons and times of day he displays
no originality. (He might be compared here to
his disadvantage with Leiiau in the latter' s felici-
tous treatment of autumn, or with Storm in his
descriptions of the pomp and poetry of high noon. )
Nor is Tieck a pathfinder in his love of mountains,
for Rousseau — as is well known — had introduced
mountains into the literature of Europe. Truly
original, however, and really important is Tieck' s
treatment of the charm and individuality of the
various moods of the forest : the very word " Wald-
einsamkeit " is of his coinage (pp. 58 ff. ). It is
worth noting — as Mornet points out (p. 451) —
that almost simultaneously with Tieck, Bernardin
de Saint-Pierre and Chateaubriand discovered the
forest for French literature.
Tieck' s philosophical attitude towards nature is
neither pantheistic (like Goethe's and Words-
worth's), nor does nature appeal to him as the
expression of a divine personality (as she does in
so elevating and sublime a fashion to the authors
of the Psalms). And yet there are echoes of a
confused pantheism and worship of the presence
of God everywhere (36 f. ).
In other words, the results of this careful little
treatise are — as the author says — essentially nega-
tive. But they are not sterile, for we learn that
in his treatment of nature Tieck was indefinite
and rather superficial. This corresponds with
what we know of his whole literary output. What
Danton does not sufficiently elucidate is the
method by which Tieck succeeds in the one par-
ticular in which he attains mastery : in his crea-
tion of atmosphere. Danton quotes Tieck as
saying : ' ' Ohne Stimmung ist keine Natur da ' '
(p. 34), but he does not go into any analysis of
method.
In a sense this gap is filled by Steinert's inves-
tigation. This is one of the few studies that con-
centrate on the use of color made by individual
poets. In Tieck' s case this is'of particular inter-
est, as it was in large measure by the introduction
of color that he produced " Stimmung." The re-
sults are significant. We learn that Tieck' s love
for color was profound and intense, but rarely
exquisite (much less subtle, therefore, than our
modern taste, intensified as that has been by
Japanese art). Tieck riots in sumptuous color-
ing : red, blue, green, greenish yellow (very much
as does Jean Paul. Cf. Lothar Bohme, Die Land-
schaft in den Werken Holderlins und Jean Pauls,
Leipzig, 1808, p. 85 ff.). With characteristic
inconsistency, he is also capable of appreciating
' ' kleine lautlos in einancler huschende Lichter ' '
( Stein ert, p. 47).
In his theoretic utterances, too, he cares more
for color than for line, because color gives Stim-
mung, and recognizes that color should be the
highest aim of painting (pp. 82 and 85). Tieck's
position as a pioneer in this particular becomes
evident from the fact that in the eighteenth cen-
tury even Rousseau was comparatively callous to
color (cf. Mornet, o. c., p. 407), and even Goethe
laid less emphasis on it (cf. Steinert, pp. 20 ff.).
Steinert reminds us very properly that if there is
a certain " Primitivitat " in Tieck's treatment, he
was at the beginning of a great movement (p. 54)
and, moreover, the exponent of a nervous gener-
ation. Hence a note of hysteria often mars his
happiest utterances and destroys his effects.
Truly romantic is his use of color as symbols.
But, like a genuine Romanticist again, he lacks
interest in what S. calls ' ' schlichtes Werktags-
licht " (p. 52). (Only modern realism could
train the eye to the beauty of the commonplace. )
December, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
249
Nor do the light effects of high noon seem any-
thing but harsh and brutal to Tieck.
We hope that investigations of this nature will
be carried on of other literary artists. In the case
of modern poets this would often reveal a delicacy
of retina that has led to the discovery of new col-
orvalues and combinations. So William Morris
describes the heralding of dawn : "... a faint
green light began to show, Far in the east ' ' (Story
of Cupid and Psyche in The Earthly Paradise) •
and again : "The wind did run through the gray
leaves overhead." (From The Golden Apples,
Earthly Paradise). These are colors Tieck would
never have seen under the circumstances. Besides
Morris, Pierre Loti (especially in Le Pecheur
d'Islande and Le Desert), d'Annunzio, and
Stephan George would well repay such study.
Before closing, I cannot help calling attention
to the exceptional position in the literature of the
naturesense of Ratzel's book mentioned above,
Naturschliderung . It is of importance not only
to students of the treatment of nature in litera-
ture, but to all teachers of belles-lettres, and to
all lovers of nature. The theory of landscape
had been treated — in passing at least — before
him, so in Ruskin's Works, in Helm's Italien,
etc. But never had any one written an entire
book in so thorough a fashion on what may be
called the criticism of landscape. The geographer
Ratzel is acquainted not only with the landscape
of Europe, but of the entire world. Because of
his scientific training on the one hand and his
large literary acquaintance on the other, he
strews his pages with stimulating and illumin-
ating remarks.
To-day the love of landscape has become a well-
nigh universal taste. But it is not always com-
bined with the trained eye nor the discriminating
judgment. So a comparatively commonplace lake
in the prairie lauds of the Middle AVest, seems to
many of a beauty not intrinsically different from
the dramatic scenery of Lake George with its
background of the Adirondacks, or a melancholy
tarn in the moors. We may say of Ratzel's book
that it bears much the same relation to the study
of landscape that Volkelt's Aesthetik des Tragi-
echen bears to the study of the drama.
Brawn University.
CAMILLO VON KLENZE.
Der Roman, Geschichte, Theorie und Techuik
des Romans und der erzahlenden Dichtkunst.
Dritte verbesserte und vermehrte Auflage der
Theorie des Romans. Von HEINRICH KEITER
und TONY KELLEN. Essen-Ruhr, Verlag von
Fredebeul und Koenen. 1908. Erster Ab-
schnitt, I. Geschichte des Romans.
The present work is a very ambitious one. It
purposes to treat of the historical development of
the novel in general, in China as well as in Ger-
many, in India as well as in France, Italy, Russia,
England, and America. It is not to be, then, a
history of the novel in Germany, in which those
novelistic currents which influenced directly the
course of the German novel are described, but in
reality a history of prose fiction.
The scope of this first part of the work was sug-
gested to a certain extent by the second part which
deals with the theory and principles of narrativ
prose writing and does not limit itself exclusively
to the German novel. In fact, the present work
grew out of Heinrich Keiter's Theorie des Romans
und der Erzahlkumt, publisht in 1876 with a
preface by F. Kreyssig. Mr. Kellen enlarged
this treatis and publisht it in 1904 prefixing to it
a twenty-six page sketch of the history of the
novel. In the present edition (the third) the
book has grown from 306 pages to 496. The
introductory sketch has been expanded from 26
to 128 pages.
It would have been better if the author had
simply disregarded his original sketch and started
afresh at the task of writing the history of the
novel, for enlarging an old structure necessitates
conforming one's self to a large extent to the
original framework and the work becomes more
mechanical, less free and effective. The result
in the present case is a rather large mass of
material, a catalog of names with more or less
detailed remarks about each, loosely bound to-
gether, lacking inner coherence, without any
clearly traceable independent point of view. This
last is the disturbing feature of the book. We
never feel sure whether a remark is the writer's
own or some one's else. In fact, all indications
point to the conclusion that the treatis is prac-
tically a mosaic of passages borrowed from various
works on literature. These passages have not
250
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 8.
been assimilated and poured forth in one flowing
current but merely placed in juxtaposition, each
in the words of the original, with, perhaps, a
few minor alterations. It is a series of jottings,
of notes. Such excerpts cannot possibly be united
into a homogeneous whole and the eclectic char-
acter of the contents has made necessary a com-
plete lack of literary form. The style is jerky
and uneven. Paragraphs do not flow inevitably
from preceding ones, nor connect closely with
following ones.
We are dealing, then, with a compilation from
various books, and these of the most varied age
and character. The author has mentioned, as far
as I can judge, all of the works which have been
drawn on for excerpts, either in the footnotes scat-
tered thruout the book or in the general bibliog-
rafy at the end. And yet he has not shown
sufficient care in indicating in every individual
case just what he got from others and where he
got it. When a writer excerpts from other works,
he is under obligation to enclose the passage in
quotation marks and state exactly where it is to be
found. The quotation marks and the name of the
work or author should be given ; it is essential
that we have at least one or the other. In some
cases such acknowledgment has been made in this
book. In a large number of cases, however, pas-
sages have been incorporated without indication of
their source. A very striking example of this is
found on pp. 28-39, where practically everything
is borrowed. I will give the parallel passages ' :
2733-29' E. 59-61.
293-17 (to Schule) V. 315.
29"-" Kr. 6.
2928-'1 (to Umfangs) Br. 13, 960.
2936-38 (from Hier) Br. 13, 960.
302» -35 (from -yvie) E. 61-62.
3P36_31» (to Josephs) V. 315-316.
31»-si (dient-auszulegen) E. 63.
1 1 have given the paging according to the editions
accessible to me. The letters prefixed indicate the abbre-
viation employed in each case.
Br. Brockhaus, Konvei-sation- Lexicon (14te Aufl.).
E. Eichendorfl, Joseph Freiherr von, Der deutsche Ro-
man dee achtzehnten Jahrhunderts in scinem Verhiiltnis zum
Christentum. Leipzig, 1851.
Kr. Kreyssig, Fr. Vorlesungen iiber den deutschen Ro-
man der Gegenwart. Berlin, 1871.
V. Vilmar, A. F. C. Oeschichte der deutschen National-
Literatur. 20ste Aufl. Marburg u. Leipzig, 1881.
31"-3319
3320-91
3331-3412
3412-16
3416-25
3427.30
3430-33
34"-354
354-11
3511-18
3528-38
361-6
367-'9
3822-3922
(from Trotzdem) V. 316-317.
E. 63.
V. 317-318.
(to 1707) E. 62-63.
(In— erzahlt) V. 318.
(Von— zerbrochen) E. 63.
(from Zu) V. 318.
V. 319.
(odei— gezieret) V. 319, footnote.
(In— gefiihrt) E. 64.
(fromohne) V. 319.
V. 318.
E. 65.
V. 318.
E. 66-67.
V. 319-320.
We can hardly approve of the selection of works
from which excerpts have been made. General
histories of world-literature like those of Hart and
Baumgartner, histories of German literature like
those of Vilmar and the uncritical Koenig, works
on the German novel one-sided or popular and
now antiquated, encyclopedias, etc., cannot be
considered the proper sources for a modern, up-
to-date treatis on the novel. We except Mielke,
of course, which is an excellent study of the nine-
teenth century novel in Germany.
The reader is referd to a number of first-rate
works, monografs, and articles in journals, in
the footnotes thruout the book, particularly at the
close, as well as to some now antiquated. No sys-
tematic, critical classification or treatment of the
bibliografical material has been attempted. In
general, however, altho incomplete, this bibliog-
rafy is helpful. Attention might be drawn to a
few minor errors which came to my notice : p. 3,
footnote 3, Rhode should be spelt Rohde ; p. 10,
footnote 13, should read, " des Fiore di Virtu";
p. 72, footnote 80, E. Miiller-Fraureuth, not E.
Miiller ; p. 123, footnote 148, read "Jahrbuch
fiir romanische und englische Literatur" for "J.
f. r. u. germanische Philologie"; and on p. 128,
footnote 154, Berlin should be substituted for
Braunschweig, as the place of publication of the
third edition of'Mielke's book.
To mention a few more inaccuracies : on p. 9
the date of Boccaccio's birth is given as 1343
instead of 1313 ; on p. 11 Vandello should be
corrected to Bandello (this correction must be
made in the index as well), and his dates changed
from 1490-1560 to 1480-1561 ; p. 15, 1. 17, read
December, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
251
"prosaische" instead of "poetische"; p. 16,
Magalone translated into German 1536, not 1535 ;
p. 21, the date of Cervantes' death was 1616, not
1610; p. 56, " Lebensgeschichte des verstorbenen
Jonathan Wild des Grossen, ' ' not ' ' der Grosse ' ' ;
p. 100, Justin McCarthy, not Mecarthy, and
Ramee, not Rarae. On p. 25, 11. 8-11, we find
statements with regard to the publication of the
various parts of " L' Astree, ' ' which conflict with
Korting's in his G. d. fr. Romans im 17. Jh. p.
82 seq. We read in Korting that the first and
second volumes were publisht in 1610, the third
in 1619, whereas the fourth and fifth, the latter
written for the most part by secretary Baro, using
the author's sketch as a basis, appeared in 1627.
Various minor alterations have been made in
the wording of the extracts drawn from other
books. One piece of editorial work, p. 54, 11.
17-18, is open to criticism on the score of style.
The original (Brockhaus) had (Salon- und
Boudoirromane) "die auch nach Deutschland
und den anderen Landern heruberwirkten "
which is altered to ' ' die auch nach Deutschland
wirkten."
It is a very difficult task to give a satisfactory
idea of the history of the novel of one single coun-
try in anything like so small a compass as 128
pages ; it is an impossibility to give a suitable his-
tory of the novel of all countries in that space.
Keiter's original work on the theory and technique
of the novel (and Keller's enlargement of it) is
based pretty exclusively on the German novel,
altho French and English works are now and then
drawn on for illustration and once in a while a
novel or novelist of some other country is men-
tioned. The German novel furnishes the basic
material, and this as well as the fact that so little
is gained by such a cursory treatment of the
oriental, Greek, Slavic, Portuguese, Hungarian,
Norwegian, Polish, Turkish, and American novel,
make it clear that the writer would have done well
to dispense with these entirely. The pages thus
won would have permitted more adequate justice
being done the German novel. Little over half of
the work, roughly speaking, is devoted to the Ger-
man novel, and in the last dozen pages, which deal
with ' ' die neuesten Romaudichter, ' ' the Spanish,
French, English, and American novel receive,
each, nearly the same prominence and fulness of
treatment as the German, to say nothing of the
fact that the Italian, Norwegian, Hungarian,
Polish, Czechic, Turkish and Japanese are also
introduced. In the paragraphs on the German
modern novel, we find mention, to be sure, of
Richard Voss, Polenz, Ompteda, Frenssen, Otto
Ernst, (also of Brackel, Marie Herbert, and Han-
del-Mazzetti), but fail to discover Wildenbruch,
Hans Hoffmann, Seidel, Ernst von Wolzogen,
Ernst Zahn, Ricarda Huch, Klara Viebig, Beyer-
lein, Joseph Lauff, and many others whose names
we might expect to find. Why omit Otto Lud-
wig, Franzos, Sacher-Masoch, Anzengruber?
" Heiterethei " and " Zwischen Himmel und
Erde," "Bin Kampf urns Recht," "Das Ver-
machtnis Kains," " Der Schandfleck" and "Der
Sternsteinhof " certainly entitle their authors to a
place in a treatis in which space is found for
Schucking and Kompert, for a John Retcliffe
and a Gregor Samarow.
In fact, the question of the proportion of space
due individual writers, according to their import-
ance in the history of the novel has not been
weighed with sufficient care by the author. Emil
Souvestre receives 26 lines while Felix Dahn gets
3, Manzoui has 13, Raabe receives no more, while
Rosegger is allowed only 9 and Sudermann 4, that
is just as much as the Russian novelist, Anton
Tschechow. A large number of names are enu-
merated in the book, each with perhaps a few lines
of characterization and yet without mention of a
single one of the author's works (e. g., Hesekiel,
p. 90, Holtei, p. 91).
Our conclusion is, then, that the writer attempts
too much, that his treatis on the history of the
novel is not an independent, homogeneous work,
but is, for the most part, a disjointed series of ex-
tracts from works now antiquated, or, at least, not
up to date and standard for the history of the
novel. The work shows no proper sense of propor-
tion, omits essential names and works and intro-
duces unessential ones, or at any rate, less import-
ant ones. The treatis is not reliable as a guide
either to German literature or that of other coun-
tries, for the reader can have no confidence in the
critical judgment displayed or method of selection
employed.
M. M. SKINNER.
Stanford University.
252
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 8.
Les poetes du terroir du XVe siecle au XXe sticle.
Textes choisis, accompagne's de Notices biogra-
phiques et d'une Bibliographic et de cartes
des anciens pays de France, par AD. VAN
BEVER. (Alsace, Anjou, Auvergne, BSarn,
Berry, Bourbormais, Bourgogne, Bretagne,
Champagne..) Tome i. Paris, Delagrave,
1909. xv + 575 pp.
The interest in the literatures of the Provinces
of France is growing every day, and the prediction
that it would prove a mere fad is farther than ever
from being realized. Thus the publication of this
admirable volume — which awaits a brother shortly
— is very timely. To all those who are familiar
with Vicaire's Etudes sur la poesie populaire, the
work of Van Bever will be heartily welcome. It
is indeed the whole of France, not only the some-
what cosmopolitan Paris which sings all through
this rich collection, the gay, sunny France ; the
variety of the French wit comes out in a really
striking fashion ; Anjou does not laugh like
Be'arn, Champagne is not merry like Brittany,
Burgundy is enjoying life differently from Alsace.
One of the most interesting features are the Chan-
sons populaires, generally anonymous, of those
various countries. In many cases when the
' ' patois ' ' offers difficulties, a translation is
added to the original text. For our own taste,
and from the point of view of the scholar, we
should have preferred if more space had been
allowed to those popular songs, while some of the
poets might have been left out without much
impairing the value of the book ; for instance,
such authors who after having gone to Paris lost
the characteristic turn of mind of the ' ' terroir ' '
might have been merely mentioned in the introduc-
tory chapters. Moreover, such poets like Chateau-
briand, Lamartine, Banville, and so forth, are
well enough known without being represented
there, all the more so as the space allotted to
each one of them could not possibly do justice to
their importance.
The biographical and bibliographical notes are
as generous as they are concise, both for the
groups of poets and for the individual men ; they
will prove extremely valuable for students of
French poetry. The name of the editor is a
guarantee by itself of the excellence of the work.
Van Bever is one of the greatest "Fureteurs de
bibliotheques " in Paris ; he is one of the editors
of the Pastes d'aujourd' hui, that indispensable tool
for any student of contemporary poetry in France ;
and he has now under way a most interesting edi-
tion of Guill. Colletet's Vie des poetes francois,
from the unique MS. preserved in the Bibliotheque
Nationale, and which will be published by H.
Champion. l
A. SCHINZ.
Bryn Mawr College.
CARLSON, J. S. : Swedish Grammar and Reader.
The H. W. Wilson Company, Minneapolis.
1907. Pp. 277.
Carlson's Grammar, based, as the author in-
forms us in his Preface, on Sunden's Svensk
Spr&kldra, is intended " as a practical text-book
for the school-room and home." In eighty-six
pages the principles of Swedish grammar are pre-
sented and in twenty more a survey of the syntax.
Pages 107-126 contain Exercises 1) illustrating
the various parts of the sentence and grammatical
forms in general and, 2) exemplifying the spell-
ing of Swedish, especially the various ways in
which the j-, v-, sje-, tje-, and ang- sounds are
indicated in writing. The remainder, or a little
over one-half of the book, is given to the selec-
tions for reading, and the vocabulary to these
(pages 227-273). The latter seems to have been
carefully prepared ; I have found few omissions
either of words used in the texts or of meanings
in which these are used. There is, however, a
considerable sprinkling of misprints, some of
which will be confusing enough to the beginner,
as p. 264, stalle, n. 5 ; should be n. 4 (neuter,
class 4), and p. 253, minne, n. 3, which also
should be n. 4.1 I believe, too, that it would
have been better in such a grammar if each sepa-
rate word had been set apart as are the primary
stems, and not to embody derivatives and com-
' For a more complete description of this forthcoming
Colletet and the conditions for subscription, see my note
in Library Journal, March, 1909, pp. 140-1.
'Misprints are unfortunately rather numerous in the
Grammar.
December, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
253
pounds in the article under the stem. The selec-
tions of the Reader are, in general, excellent ;
from among the poets, Wallin, Nicander, Anna
Maria Lenngren, Grafstrom, Strandberg, Rune-
berg, Geiger, Vitalis, Sehlstedt and Lindblad are
represented by one or more selections each, while
in prose the numbers are from Topelius, Hjarne,
Fredrika Bremer, G. af. Geigerstrom, Victor Ryd-
berg, Melander, Tegner, Geijer, Hedenstjerna,
Starback, Fryxell, and Mellin.3
The grammar proper will be found to be very
serviceable ; being written by one to the manner
born the explanations of sounds and the discus-
sions of rules and forms are almost always correct
and the matter is presented in both readable and
teachable form. Some antiquated terms occur in
the phonology, which the teacher would best cor-
rect to those in present usage ; especially objec-
tionable is the designation of v, f, 8, sj, tj and,/ all
as 'sibilants.' On page 2, the sound of a is cor-
rectly given as that of ea in ' bear,' but incorrectly
as also that of a in ' make ' ; in § 12 it would have
been to the point to have stated that c is extremely
rare in native Swedish words, occurring only along
with & or h (in ach~) ; it would have aided the
student if under 48, c, the fact of existing cog-
nates in a had been brought out. It is an error,
I think, to give under 47, 2, d, this practically
complete list of words in which the short sound
of & is written o, and similarly under 47, 2, e,
in the case of foreign words in which & is
written o ; only a few commonly used words
should have been given. Likewise it certainly is
confusing to the student to have given at all the
rules, § 66, for the old three genders, when present
Swedish no longer recognizes that, but is a four
gender language, something which is correctly
presented elsewhere in the grammar. But I do
not wish to seem to find fault, for the good points
of Carlson's Grammar are many. I regard it as
a distinct addition to our helps for the study of
Swedish in this country and the book ought to
become widely used.
GEORGE T. FLOM.
University of Illinois,
'Some selections from the most recent Swedish writers
should have been included, especially one to illustrate
the remarkable prose of Selma Lagerlof.
CORRESPONDENCE.
GUMMEEE'S Oldest English Epic.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — I am one of many who have been wel-
coming Mr. Gummere's The Oldest English Epic,
just published. To me, the translation of Beowulf
it contains, in verse, is of special interest. Can you
spare me space for a word or two regarding Mr.
Gummere's reasons for preferring verse to prose?
These reasons he gives, but says nothing of the
other side of the question. He objects to a prose
translation because the original is in verse, and
because in a prose translation one "can" (does
this mean one must inevitably?) get rid of the
style of the original, or " suppress it to the vanish-
ing point. ' ' These reasons we may leave as stated,
and turn to Mr. Gummere's arraignment of a be-
lief, indefensible in his opinion, which he no doubt
considers characteristic of those perverse enough
to prefer a prose translation. " No greater mis-
take," he says, "exists than to suppose that the
rhythm and style of these early English poems
cannot be rendered adequately in modern English
speech. ' '
The word to be noted here is "adequately" ;
the whole question turns on that. Mr. Gummere
continues, "Asa practical problem solvitur ambu-
lando." He probably refers to the pedestrian
muse. Who will deny that a person even of modest
attainments can sit down and forthwith translate
Old English verse with every faithful intention
into an imitation of it that scans — or even write
original poems in it like Hall's Old English Idyls.
In point of fact, the embracing of such a tempta-
tion and the actual transgression are alike only too
fatally easy. At moments— all too few and fleet-
ing—such a translator can be what, by courtesy,
is called 'felicitous.' But "adequate" his trans-
lation will not be, either as regards rhythm or
something still more vital, accuracy, for two main
reasons. In the first place, because Modern "Old
English" verse does not sound in the least like
real Old English verse. It is a bastard archeolog-
ical fabrication, or an atavistic degenerate, or —
something else ; and it never will be anything else
unless, through some miracle, it should be human-
254
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 8.
ized by a real poet or a poetic tradition — and
philologians are, after all, not real poets. More-
over, even then, it would be something else, and
not Old English verse. The second reason is that
when a translator lays upon himself the bonds of
Sievers' types and the constraints of initial rime,
he limits himself parlously in his choice of avail-
able words, and cannot choose the precisely right
word, interpret with faithfulness, give to the
modern reader what the poem gave to the Anglo-
Saxon hearer or reader. Matching letters does
not conduce to precision of meaning or poetic in-
spiration. It made the Old English poet pad —
though, to be sure, he very cleverly evaded this
particular hardship of Wyrd by making his pad-
ding an artistic character of his verse. But the
translator is not free to run over and select helpful
stop-gaps from a stock of kenuings or epic tags ;
he is not even at liberty to swap one kenning be-
fore him for another. This necessity to observe
the letter and not the spirit tends continually to
make a verse translation inaccurate, cryptic, bald,
or, what is worse, artificial. It was one of several
things that drove William Morris (and he a poet)
to inventing his horrific pseudo-archaisms.
In brief (if I may venture to speak also for
Mr. J. K. Clark Hall, Mr. Tinker, and other
regrettably prosaic translators) those who have
translated Beowulf in prose preferred prose be-
cause they preferred a medium in which they
could be as accurately faithful, that is, make as
"adequate" a translation in this most essential
regard of faithfulness, as possible. The fact is
cited by Mr. Gummere that all German trans-
lators but one have used verse. What of that ?
All persons of generous nature in uncurbed mo-
ments burn to rush in where even genius fear to
tread. And the Germans are Titanic ; they aspire
to be supermen. These sinned through pride —
but there was at least one just man found among
them.
May a suggestion be made which might possibly
transform the clash of opinions on this point into
a happy concord — a suggestion which Mr. Gum-
mere of all men should welcome ? What one can-
not do adequately — that is, make a verse trans-
lation— might be done by many. The world is
much the richer for what Mr. Gummere has
taught us of the communal origin of poetry. Why
should not an era of communal translation set in?
Let some devoted soul, more valiant and more
unselfish than Curtius, perpetrate for the common
good a translation of one poem or another in one
of our technical periodicals. Our own periodicals
— for it would not do to let the Germans in on
this. Furthermore it should be understood that
we would give everyone in this country a chance,
for we get sometimes in the habit of thinking no
one exists except the Germans and our own par-
ticular University. Then let everyone, in the
slang phrase, "jump on " the votive translation,
rend it in pieces, and then, by a happy selection
of the most accurate, that is prose, renderings
offered, in as excellent and as accurate poetic
phrasing as is possible, put together, somewhat
like a picture puzzle but a good deal harder, an
ideal translation for communal use. This could
be handed down — a perfect translation, because it
would have no individual author, but come out of
the heart of a literate (to be sure) but homo-
geneous folk. For that is what philologians are.
There would be no danger of petty differences of
opinion or preference for one's own opinion be-
fore those of others — not the slightest. Everyone
knows that there is no vanity, or jealousy, or
narrow parochial spirit among philologians — or,
at least, American philologians.
Will Mr. Gummere let me thank him here (not
because I suppose it will mean anything to him,
but in token of my personal debt) for his helpful
book ? I had scarcely cut the string before I was
reading his stirring verse to a class, and it ' ' went
across the footlights " unmistakably. But the fact
that Mr. Gummere comes almost within grasp of
the impossible does not prove his point.
C. G. CHILD.
University of Pennsylvania.
ON AN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY TRANSLATION
OF BURGER'S Lenore.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — In an interesting article on English
translations of Burger's Lenore (Modern Quarterly
of Language and Literature, Vol. n, pp. 13-28),
W. W. Greg has corrected some of Brandl's mis-
December, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
255
takes in a note on the same subject appended to
Erich Schmidt's Charaltteristiken (Vol. I, pp.
244-48) but has himself erred in attempting to
correct Brandl in regard to William Taylor's
translation of Lenore. Greg writes as follows,
commenting on a list of translations :
"Taylor 2. Ellenore, Norwich, 1796. (Brandl
mentions an edition of this date at London, which
according to him contains a stanza from Spen-
cer(!) I have not been able to find any trace of
such an ed.)."
The Spencer referred to is another translator of
Lenore. The Monthly Mirror (Vol. u, p. 480)
gives the title of Taylor's translation as follows :
" Ellenore, a Ballad, originally written in Ger-
man, by G. A. Buerger, Norwich, March. Lon-
don, Johnson."
Plainly, then, the ballad was published or at
any rate distributed both at Norwich and at
London. Greg, unaware of this, thinks that
Brandl refers to a different edition, whereas both
are calling the same edition by different names.
Notwithstanding Greg's exclamation point
Brandl is also right in regard to Taylor's bor-
rowing from Spencer. In the first place, Brandl
speaks of the copying of a " Vers " which means
"line" and not "stanza" as Greg has trans-
lated it. The Critical Review (New Series, Vol.
xxii, p. 455) quotes Taylor's own words in re-
gard to page 7 of this ballad that "he has availed
himself of the highly finished translation of Mr.
Spencer." Unfortunately this London and Nor-
wich edition of Taylor's translation of Lenore is
not in the British Museum and possibly not in
existence to-day, so it is not possible to prove
that this disputed passage is on page 7, tho it
is extremely probable. We have other pretty
conclusive evidence of the borrowing however.
Taylor published a translation of Lenore in the
Monthly Magazine for March, 1796, which we
will term (a). By June of that year (see
Critical Review, Vol. xvn, pp. 303-08) W. R.
Spencer's translation (6) had appeared. At the
end of this year was published in pamphlet form
another translation of Lenore by Taylor (c). The
version printed in Taylor's Survey of German
Poetry (Vol. n, p. 40 of 1829 ed.) is undoubt-
edly, as Brandl and Greg state, a reprint of (c).
We will call it (c'). It is at any rate different
from (a). The stanza m which the borrowed
line occurs runs in the original and in the various
versions as follows :
" Sag an, wo ist dein Kiimmerlein ?
Wo? Wiedein Hochzeitbettchen ? "
" Weit, weit von hier ! Still, kiihl und klein !
Sechs Bretter und zwei Brettchen ! "
(a)
" And where is, then, thy house and home ;
And where thy bridal bed?"
'"Tis narrow, silent, chilly, dark ;
Far hence I rest my head."
" Say where the bed, and bridal hall ?
"What guests our blissful union greet?"
" Low lies the bed, still, cold and small ;
" Six dark boards, and one milk white sheet."
" And where is then thy house, and home,
And bridal bed so meet?"
'"Tis narrow, silent, chilly, low,
Six planks, one shrouding sheet."
The similarity of the last lines in (6) and (c')
seems conclusive proof that the latter was bor-
rowed from the former, since the original contains
no reference to a "milk white sheet." If then,
as Braudl and Greg suppose, the version in the
Survey of German Poetry is a reprint of Tay-
lor's 1796 London and Norwich edition, Brandl
is right in stating that this edition ' ' contains a
line from Spencer."
W. A. COLWELL.
Wofford College.
A PARALLEL BETWEEN HOFFMANN AND
LUDWIG.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — The Romanticist Hoffmann and the
realist Ludwig seem poles apart from one another,
but once at least their great minds ran in very
much the same channel. Their famous master
coopers, Martin and Holders-Fritz, testify as fol-
lows concerning their trade :
" . . , mein Handwerk
halt' ich fur das herr-
lichste, was es auf der
Welt geben kann. . . . Ei,
Herr, mir lacht das Herz
" Es geht doch kein
Handwerk iiber die Biitt-
nerei. So ein Ding, das
steht auf sich selber da, so
rund, so glatt und so fest,
256
MODEEN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 8.
im Leibe, wenn ich solch
ein tiichtig Fass auf den
Endstuhl bringe, nachdera
die Stabe mil dem Klob-
eisen und dem Lenkbeil
tiichtig bereitet, wenn dann
die Gesellen die Schlegel
schwingen nnd klipp,
klapp— klipp, klapp 1 es
niederfiillt auf die Treiber
— hei ! das 1st lustige Mu-
sik. . . . Ihr spracht von
Baumeistern, lieber Herr 1
ei nun, solch ein stattliches
Hans ist wohl ein lierr-
liches Werk ; aber war' ich
ein Baumeister, ginge ich
vor raeinem Werke voriiber
und oben vora Erker
schaute irgend ein unsau-
berer Geist, ein nichtsniit-
ziger, schuftiger Geselle,
der das Haus erworben,
auf mich herab, ich wiirde
mich schiimen ins Innerste
hinein, mir wiirde vor lau-
ter Arger und Verdruss die
Lust ankommen, mein eig-
nes Werk zu zerstoren.
Doch so etwas kann mir
nicht geschehen mit meinen
Gebiiuden. Da drinnen
wohnt ein fur alleraal nur
der sauberste Geist auf Er-
den, der edle Wein. — Gott
lobe mir mein Hand-
werk ! "
E. T. A. Hoffmann :
Meister Martin der Kiifner
und seine Gesellen (1818).
Samtliche Werke, Leipzig,
1900, vn, 168-69.
Princeton University.
und man kann seine Freud
daran sehn, wies gefiigt ist,
dass man keine Fuge sieht.
Dagegen was hilft dem
Schneider und dem Schus-
ter das Schonst. was sie
machen? Der Kerl, der
hernachen darin steckt, ist
er hiisslich, so verschimp-
fiert er das Werk, und ist
er schon, so denkt man
wieder, der machts. Ich
mocht wissen, wie ein
Schreiber an seiner Arbeit
konnt seine Freud haben,
oder ein Kaufmann ; denn
die Thaler, die dererwirbt,
die hat er nicht selber ge-
macht. Dem Musikanten
seine Sach, die ist vollends
in die Luft geblasen. Er
siehts kein mal ganz vor
sich, was er hat gemacht,
dass er sich konnt driiber
freun."
O. Ludwig : Die Heitere-
thei (1855). Gesammelte
Schriften, Leipzig, 1891,
ii, 123.
GEO. M. PRIEST.
EASTWARD HOE.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — It is to be desired that other students
of the Elizabethan drama would follow the ex-
ample of Dr. Joseph Quincy Adams, Jr. and
record in Modern Language Notes allusions to
previous plays in Eastward Hoe, for our list is
certainly far from complete. Slitgut, in the same
scene from which Dr. Adams quotes (iv, 1), on
descending from his "tree" in Cuckold's Haven,
says :
Farewel to honest married men, farewel to all
sorts and degrees of thee ! Farewel thou home
of hunger, that calst th' inns a court to their
manger ! Farewel, thou home of aboundance,
that adornest the headsmen of the commonwealth !
Farewell, thou home of direction, that is the cit-
tie lanthorne ! Farewell, thou home of pleasure,
the ensigne of the huntsman ! Farewell, thou
home of destiny, th' ensigne of the married man !
Farewell, thou home tree, that bearest nothing
but stone fruite !
Is it stretching a point to regard this as a parody
of Othello, in, 3 :—
Farewell the tranquil mind ! farewell content !
Farewell the plumed troop and the big wars
That make ambition virtue I 0, farewell !
Farewell the neighing steed etc.
It may easily be imagined what point could be
given to the parody if the boy who took the part
of Slitgut at the Blackfriars had been taught to
travesty the accent and gesture of Burbage in
reciting Othello's "farewell" at the Globe, as
some of the artists of the vaudeville stage have
mimicked popular actors of our own day. Both
these passages in Eastward Hoe were probably
written by Chapman, and if the conjectures as to
their intention are well founded, the larger issue
is raised of Chapman's relation to Shakspere in
the stage quarrel, referred to in the prologue of
Troilus and Cressida.
These parallels should, of course, be carefully
scanned, or we may be led astray by accidental
repetitions of the same phrases. If an earlier date
could be certainly assigned to King Lear, one
would be tempted to descry a reminiscence of the
famous reconciliation scene in the passage in East-
ward Hoe, v, 1, in which Gertrude kneels down
and asks her mother's blessing, adding : "Nay,
sweet mother, doe not weepe." The resemblance
between the situation in Eastward Hoe and that in
the older Chronicle History of King Leir, from
which Shakspere doubtless took the suggestion, is
less close. The scene in the old play (H4 in the
Malone Society Reprint) has recently been warmly
praised by Count Tolstoi, and must have been
famous in its day ; but the parallel is so slight
that it seems rather an instance of the danger of
this kind of criticism than of its significance.
University of Wisconsin.
J. W. CUNLIFFE.
December, 1909.]
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
257
GIBBER'S Cinna's Conspiracy.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — In Corneille and Racine in England
(pp. 179-185) by Dorothea Frances Canfield, the
ascription of the authorship of Oinna's Conspiracy
to Colley Gibber is questioned on internal evi-
dence, namely, that the play is better than Gibber
was able to write, and because, quoting Genest,
" no reason is assigned, why he should conceal his
name." These two arguments are so dependent
on personal judgment that evidence that Gibber
was paid for the play would seem to establish his
authorship.
In Nichols's Literary Anecdotes of the Eigh-
teenth Century, volume 8, page 294, is given an
extract from a memorandum book of Lintot,
entitled Copies when purchased. According to
this Gibber, on March 16, 1712 (0. S.), was
paid thirteen pounds for Cinna's Conspiracy.
The play was first acted at Drury Lane, Feb-
ruary 19, 1713 (Genest, vol. 2, page 510), about
a month before the purchase by Lintot. The fact
that Gibber was paid for the play so short a time
after its presentation would seem to be sufficient
proof that the play is by Gibber, even though he
seems to have made no public claim to its author-
ship.
DE WITT C. CROISSANT.
George Washington University.
LIKE A MIDSOMER ROSE.
To the Editors of Hod. Lang. Notes.
SIES : — By way of addition to the bibliograph-
ical data in Mr. MacCrackeu's Lydgate Canon
(The Philological Society, 1908), it may be noted
that Lydgate' s poem Like a Midsomer Rose (Mac-
Cracken, p. xix), was copied by Thomas Gray
from a manuscript in the Public Library of the
University of Cambridge (presumably Hh. iv.
12) and was appended to his Remarks on the
Poems of John Lydgate. These were published
by Mathias in 1814, and again by Mitford, in his
Correspondence of Gray and Nicholls, 1843, pp.
317-321. Some quotations, this poem among
them, were unaccountably omitted by Gosse
from his edition of Gray's Works.
Gray's Remarks also include several extended
extracts from Lydgate' sFall of Princes ; of which
we need a new edition.
Like a Midsomer Rose, it may be added, is
another of the numerous medieval poems in
which the ubi suntf formula figures; cf. the
lists of Bright and F. Tupper, Jr. in M. L. N.,
vin, 94, 253 f.
CLARK S. NORTHUP.
Cornell University.
THE THREE DAYS' TOURNAMENT MOTIF IN
MARLOWE'S Tambvrlaine.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS :— The incident of the victorious knight
who on three successive days of a tournament
appears each day disguised with a horse and
armor of different colour is well known to readers
of the mediaeval romances (see, for example,
the Middle English romances, Ipomedon, A, 11.
3039 ff., and Richard Goer de Lion, 11. 267 ff.).
Miss J. L. Weston in her Three Days' Tourna-
ment (London, 1902) has traced the theme,
though not exhaustively, through the romances
and folk-tales, and G. Paris, the year before his
death, announced (Journal des Savants for Au-
gust, 1902, p. 449, note), his intention of devo-
ting a detailed study to the subject — an intention
which he did not live to carry out. No one
seems, however, to have observed a late adapta-
tion of this idea in Marlowe's Tamburlaine, Part
I, Act iv, Sc. i, 11. 47 ff. The messenger, speak-
ing of Tamburlaine to the Soldan of Egypt, says
(vol. i, p. 69 of A. H. Bullen's edition, 3 vols.,
London, 1885) :
"Pleaseth your Mightiness to understand,
His resolution far exceedeth all.
The first day when he pitcheth down his tents,
White is their hue, and on his silver crest,
A snowy feather spangled white he bears,
To signify the mildness of his mind,
That, satiate with spoil, refuseth blood.
But when Aurora mounts the second time
As red as scarlet is his furniture ;
Then must liis kindled wrath be quenched with blood,
Not sparing any that can manage arms ;
258
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[Vol. xxiv, No. 8.
But if these threats move not submission,
Black are his colours, black pavilion ;
His spear, his shield, his horse, his armour, plumes,
And jetty feathers, menace death and hell ;
Without respect of sex, degree or age,
He razeth all his foes with fire and sword."
The differences which distinguish Marlowe's
application of the idea — e. g., the symbolical
meaning of the three colours, respectively — are
too obvious to need pointing out. G. Paris re-
marks (foe. cit. ) that the original order of the
colours in stories of this class was red, white,
black. However this may be, in the actual me-
diaeval texts we find various arrangements. The
order in Marlowe — white, red, black — is the same
as in Ipomedon A.
I am unable to say what was Marlowe's imme-
diate source for this idea. One version of the
Robert the Devil story — the Middle English met-
rical romance Sir Gowther, 11. 395 ff. (ed. K.
Breul, Oppelu, 1886) — shows this motif, but the
only versions that were likely to be accessible to
Marlowe, viz., The Lyfe of Robert the Deuyll,
(prose) printed by Wynkyn de Worde (reprinted
by W. J. Thorns, vol. i, pp. 1 ff., of his Early
English Prose Romances, 3 vols., 2nd ed., Lon-
don, 1858), and the metrical version of about
the same date, based on this print ( most accessi-
ble in W. C. Hazlitt's Remains of the Popular
Poetry of England, vol. i, pp. 217 ff., London,
1864), do not show it. We have in these as in
the Old French versions to which they go back
the combats of the disguised knight on three dif-
ferent days but there is no change in the colour
of horse or armour. Whatever may have been
Marlowe's source, the motif is so common in
romance and folk-tale that I do not believe that
we are at liberty to regard the resemblance as
accidental.
J. DOUGLAS BRUCE.
University of Tennessee.
LOED BYRON'S Stanzas to the Po.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — Byron's Stanzas to the Po, though first
published in Med win's Conversations of Lord Byron
(1824), was composed in April or June of 1819
(see vol. 4, p. 545, note, of the edition of his
Poetry by E. H. Coleridge, 7 vols., London,
1898-1904). Whoever may have been its object
— the Guiccioli or another — the poem appears to
express a deep and genuine emotion and deserves a
high place among its author's lyrical productions.
The editors have failed to observe, however, that
the beautiful image which gives its effect to this
emotion — that of the lover's making the river the
bearer of his message to his mistress in her abode
far down the stream — is borrowed — yet the follow-
ing passage from the Memoirs, Journal and Cor-
respondence of Thomas Moore (edited by Lord
John Russell, 8 vols., London, 1853-6), vol. 2,
pp. 323 f., I think, leaves no doubt on the sub-
ject. Under the date, June 6, 1819, Moore (who
had been dining at Holland House) says in his
Journal :
" I pointed out to Lord Holland and the rest a
passage from Busbequius that struck me as ro-
mantic ; where he describes the soldiers singing a
song supposed to be uttered by a dying warrior on
the river's bank, addressing the river as it flows
by, and bidding it hasten to tell his mistress how
gallantly he had died. They did not seem to think
anything of it ; but if I had mentioned (what was
really the case) that it was Lord Byron who first
pointed it out to me, they would have been sure
to have found out all possible beauty in it, — such
is the prestige of a name ! ' '
Moore shows here some confusion of memory in
regard to Busbequius' narrative but the following
is evidently the passage he had in mind. I quote
from the English translation — Travels into Turkey
translated from the original Latin of the learned
A. G. Busbequius, 3rd edition, Glasgow, 1761 —
rather than from the Latin original, since Lord
Byron is much more likely to have used the
former. On page 180 of this work we find the
following words :
' ' I only heard one Hungarian common soldier
playing a doleful ditty on a (sic*) ill-tuned harp and
his companions were howling rather than singing to
it ; it was the last words of a fellow-soldier who
died of his wounds on the grassy bank of the
Danube ; he adjured that river as her streams
were gliding to his own country, to commend him
to his friends there, and tell them that he died no
ignoble nor unrevenged death for the glory of their
nation and encrease of their religion. His fellows
groaned out, Thrice happy he ! 0 that our case
were like his!"
December, 1909].
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
259
It will be observed that the dying warrior does
not send a message of love to his mistress, as Moore
states, but a message of patriotism and exultant
heroism to his friends. It is significant, however,
that the change which Moore' s slip of memory has
effected in the original story is just that which
Byron's poem also exhibits. Had Moore seen a
copy of the poem at the time that he made this
entry in his Journal and did the mistake arise
from his confusing it with the passage in Busbe-
quius which suggested the image that gives it its
peculiar form ? This seems hardly likely (although
the dates would offer no obstacle to such a suppo-
sition, if the stanzas were composed in April,
1819), for he would surely have mentioned the
poem in the entry, if he had known of its exist-
ence. Moreover, I find no allusion to the piece
elsewhere in his Correspondence or in Byron's.
It seems most probable, then, that Byron had at
some time mentioned to Moore the idea suggested
by the passage as a good one to adapt to the pur-
pose for which we find it employed in the Stanzas
to the Po and that the confusion of memory arose
in this way.
At what time did Byron point out this passage
to Moore? Moore's words would seem to imply
that he did so in person. If this is true, it must
have been before April 25, 1816, the day that
Byron left England for good (see Moore's Life of
Byron, p. 305, London, 1901), for the two poets
did not meet again until October 8, 1819 (see
ibid., p. 410). The thought suggests itself natu-
rally that Byron may have composed, even at this
early date — before he left England — some poem
based on the passage in Busbequius, but this is
not likely. At any rate, there is no evidence that
he did. Nor is there anything to show that he
' ' pointed out ' ' this passage by letter to Moore.
It would appear, then, that he kept the sugges-
tion, as a highly poetical one, long in mind and
finally used it in the manner that we have seen.
J. DOUGLAS BRUCE.
University of Tennessee.
GKAY'S ELEGY.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS : — There is an interesting parallelism
between Gray's Elegy Written in a Country
Churchyard and a section of Virgil's second
Georgic. Beginning with "O fortunatos ni-
mium," line 458, Virgil gives a picture of the
life of a husbandman which reminds one of the
setting of the Elegy.
It is to be remembered that the point of view of
the two poets was entirely different. Although he
recognizes the fact that much hard labor falls to
the lot of the husbandman, Virgil considers his
life more delightful than any other except that of
the philosopher. Gray sees the hardness of the
husbandman's lot and seeks to find some compen-
sation for it. Notwithstanding this difference in
point of view, there is a marked similarity in the
impressions given by the two poems. The details
in the two pictures are very much alike, as is also
the method of treatment. In both poems the life
of the husbandman is described not only in terms
of what he enjoys, but also in terms of what he
escapes, by reason of his situation.
Below are some examples illustrating the paral-
lelism in the two pictures. The first example is
perhaps the least striking of the number :
1. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.
... At latis otia fundis,
Speluncae, vivique lacus, et frigida Tempe,
Mugitusque bourn mollesque sub arbore somni
JSTon absunt. 1. 468 f.
2. For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn.
Or busy housewife ply her evening care :
No children run to lisp their sire's return,
Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.
Interia dulces pendent circum oscula nati,
Casta pudicitiam servat domus. 1. 523 f.
3. Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,
Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke :
How jocund did they drive their team afield ;
How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke 1
Agricola incnrvo terram dimovit aratro :
Hinc anni labor, hinc patriam pavosque penates
Sustinet, hinc armenta bourn meritosque iuvencos.
1. 51 3 f.
4. Th' applause of list'ning senates to command,
The threats of pain and ruin to despise,
To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land
And read their hist'ry in a nation's eyes,
260
MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES.
[ Vol. xxiv, No. 8.
Their lot forbade : nor circumscribed alone
Their growing virtues, but their crimes confin'd ;
Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne,
And shut the gates of mercy on mankind.
Hie stupet attonitus rostris ; hunc plausus hiantem
Per ctineos geminatus enim plebisque patrumque
Corripuit ; gaudent perfusi sanguine fratrum.
1. 508 f.
5. Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learned to stray ;
Along the cool sequester' d vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.
Ilium non populi fasces, non purpura regum
Fleiit et infidos agitans discordia f ratres. 1. 495 f.
University of Mississippi.
H. P. JOHNSON.
OS. GENESIS, 285 ff.
To the Editors of Mod. Lang. Notes.
SIRS :— OS. Genesis, 285 ff. :
Snarl furdhur skred
narouua nahl an skion, nahida moragan
an allara selifta gihuuem, uhtfugal sang
fora daga huoam.
After looking over the .various conjectures on 1.
288 recorded in Piper's edition, it occurred to me
that the text could be improved more satisfactorily
by reading fora dagawoman, — an emendation sug-
gested by the well-known Old English expressions
dcegwoma, and dcegredwoma (Grimm's edition of
Andreas & Elene, pp. xxx f., Krapp's note on
Andreas, 125). Cf. OE. Exodus, 344 : dceg-
woma beewomjofer garsecge(1'), Godes beacna sum,/
morgen mceretorht; Gu&L, 1265 : o$/>cet eastern
cwom I ofer deop gelad dcegredwoma, / wedertacen
wearm; Andr., 123 : nihthelm toglad, / lungre
leorde ; leoht cefter com, / dcegredwoma. On turn-
ing to BehaghePs edition (1903), I noticed that
the correction dagawoman, or rather the still bet-
ter dagos woman had been submitted before by
Kluge and Symons ; in particular, the latter
scholar was found to have plausibly explained the
genesis of the scribal blunder (through misread-
ing of dagasuuoma, the long form of the s being
used). Since, however, this view has so far met
with scant favor — having been scorned by all the
editors (Braune, Piper, Holthausen, Behaghel,
Heyne) — , it may not be amiss to put in a word
by way of additional support.
Of the seven divisions of night as enumerated
in jElfric's version of Bede's De Temporibus and
in ByrhtferS's Handboc (see Tupper's instructive
paper in Publ. Mod. Lang. Ass., x, lllff., espe-
cially 126 f. ), viz. , (efengloma, cefen, ' conticinium '
or switima, midniht, honored, dcegred, cernemergen
(followed by srmnan upgang), the ' cockcrowing, '
it is interesting to observe, precedes immediately
the dvegred, which latter division we are clearly
warranted in identifying with the OE. dcegred-
woma = dcegwoma. That uhtfugal denotes the
cock (cf. OE. on uhtu-tid — galli cantu, B.-T.,
s. v. uhtan-tid'), is probably admitted by every-
body, unless Kauffmann should stick to his prefer-
ence for the nightingale (Z. f. d. Ph., xxxn,
509). As to the position of uhta, "the hour
before dawn" (Tapper, I. c., 147), we may com-
pare also Sat., 465 : />is wees on uhtan eall gewor-
den I cer dcegrede, and Our. Past., p. 458 : ftces
cocoes fteaw is tScei he micle hludor singfi on uhtan
fionne on dcegred ; ae ftonne hit nealcecft dcege,
ftonne sinc/6 he smalor and smicror (Tupper, I. c.,
150). This use of fora in a temporal sense, it is
true (Franck, Z. f. d. A., XL, 213), cannot be
paralleled in Old Saxon, but the same remark
would apply tofuri (in prepositional function), —
at least according to Heyne.
Moreover, it appears that of the nine conjec-
tures proposed, the one here advocated and Gal-
lic's dagaliomon1 (or Schliiter's dagas Human)
are the most satisfactory ones from the stylistic
point of view, and of these two, dagas ivoman has
a decidedly better chance by reason of the illus-
trations referred to.
Whether the irregular position of the allitera-
tion in uhtfugal sang is to be tolerated or, with
Holthausen, to be exchanged for sang uhtfugal,
it is difficult to decide ; in the latter case, Jud.,
211 : sang hildeleoft could be cited as a parallel.
In quoting the passage under discussion, the
comma has deliberately been placed before uht-
fugal.
FR. KLAEBER.
The University of Minnesota.
'GalleVs paper in Tijdschrift voor nederl. Tool- en Le(-
terk. is not accessible to me.
PB
1
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